Recent Play Details

Play on LOS ANGELES DODGERS -154 (money-line play is good up to -165)
4% confidence rating
List Pitchers: Manaea and Gonsolin
HP Umpire: Hunter Wendelstedt grades out as a neutral vest, but he is closer to being hitter-friendly than a pitcher's friend between the lines. If there is an advantage with Hunter behind the dish, it goes to the hometown Dodgers. 
Weather: Perfect baseball weather in LA tonight with first pitch temps in the mid-70s, no precip in the forecast, and a light breeze blowing out to the center field. 

If you believe it possible, the current situation helps justify what I think is money-line value on the Dodgers tonight at Chavez Ravine.

The Padres began the week sweeping a doubleheader from the Rockies. In recent memory, the two wins kickstarted the vehicle that encouraged the Padre's front office to make one of the more significant trades in the league.

I am not going to travel as far as labeling San Diego's acquisition of Josh Hader a steal ... but F*&k, it was a steal. Hader threw a scoreless inning and got the win in his Padres debut.

Yu Darvish tossed arguably his best turn of the season in Colorado this week, and the addition of Josh Bell and Juan Soto, lest we not leave out the Brandon Drury moment for this San Diego squad. Positioned sixth in the Padres lineup for his first game and his first at-bat for his new team, it was only fitting that Drury smashed the first pitch he saw in a Padres uni for a grand slam.

The perception of the Padres with the additions of Soto, Bell, Hader, and Drury is that they are now equal to the Dodgers in the NL West. The money-line in tonight's Game 1 of a 3-game weekend set between the first and second-place NL West rivals says such.

Throw into Tony Finn's story time that the Dodgers did little to nothing. Compared to the club chasing them in the west, the storyline for tonight's game and the series is that the Padres are the motivated group, not LA, who owns an 11.5-game lead on San Diego with 59 games left in the regular season.

LA didn't need to reshape themselves with trade deadline deals. The return of Justin Turner is forthcoming, and Chris Taylor was activated upon Kershaw going to the IL with back issues. Dustin May's return is on the horizon, and the world around Dodgeville is that Walker Buehler will return a couple of weeks before the postseason begins at the end of the first week of October.

The Giants and the Rockies are now the doormats of the West. If you use recent form to grade the two bottom feeders, the Giants receive the most votes for "awful." the 

Please don't call it a comeback because it won't happen. San Fran is 6.5 games out in the final Wild Card after getting swept by the Dodgers and is toast.

I told myself I would write that the "Giants are all but postseason dirt" today, but ... they are done, finished, and they were a monument to disappointment after a 107-win season a year ago.

That their season is over, but it sure looks that way—what a remarkable fall from last season’s team. The Giants aren’t even halfway to last year’s 107-win total, and it’s almost the second week of August. They’re 3-12 since the All-Star Break and have scored just 44 runs in 15 games.

Sharps were fading the Padres on Thursday, with Joe Musgrove making his first start since signing an extension.  

Tonight the overvalued Sean Manaea will be asked to navigate his hard contact allowed by a lineup that has schooled the lefty in past meetings.

The recent performances by the Padres southpaw have not inspired me to watch him pitch on game night. However, the boxscore speaks to who Manaea is right now. The lefty has allowed 20 runs in 25 innings of work across July, and if he is at his best, as he was in April, he still won't be good enough to contain the Dodgers who are loose as a goose and playing lights-out.

The last start that Manaea worked against these Dodgers was an April turn that saw Manaea lose by a 10-2 margin against Kershaw and the Dodgers. Manaea allowed Cody Bellinger to homer twice and lead LA over San Diego for the 11th time in a 12-game span. Also, Freddie Freeman added a two-run homer versus Manaea.

Tony Gonsolin has solid numbers against this Padres team, even with the recent additions. The only time that the Dodgers' righthander has squared up against the Padres this season, he pitched seven innings of one-run ball, a July 1st outing that was his 10th win, a perfect 10th win which stretched his season mark to 10-0. Tony G struck out eight Padres against no walks.

Manaea has command issues in specific periods of the season. The specifics are transparent as his scuffles come against quality lineups that work pitchers and own one of the highest pitches per at-bat in the league.

The lone appearance by Manaea vs. the Dodgers lineup this season saw the Padres southpaw toss 4.1 innings allowing six hits and seven runs with five strikeouts against three walks. Two of the three walks that Manaea allowed came around to score in a 10-2 loss to the Chavez Ravine troupe.

The Yankees are the one team in the league with an understanding of working an opposing pitcher, exposing a starter to more pitches per batter, and evidence in terms of wins that this game strategy works. 

LOS ANGELES DODGERS -154