Dodgers vs. Giants prediction and odds for Wednesday, April 12 (History points to Cobb outdueling Kershaw)
The San Francisco Giants bounced back on Tuesday after losing the series opener to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-1, shutting out Los Angeles to the tune of 5-0.
San Francisco hands the ball to Alex Cobb on Wednesday night and hope he can realize his potential against Clayton Kershaw. Cobb had a sub-3.00 xERA and FIP last season as he improved his ability to keep the ball in the yard, but has a stiff test against a future Hall of Famer in Kershaw.
However, the Giants were able to knock around the aging left hander last season, can they do it again to start this one?
Here are the odds:
Cobb has been the poster boy for bad luck for the past two seasons, posting a combined ERA of 3.74 with a FIP of 2.85. He should be getting results like a sure-fire All-Star, but instead he just looked like another middle of the rotation arm.
However, this season, the early returns are positive, allowing only two earned runs in over 10 innings of work across two starts. It helps his cause tonight that he will face a Dodgers lineup that isn't the same as it has been over the past several years, 20th in batting average through a small sample of the year.
Cobb has done a great job of limiting home runs over the past two years, allowing only 0.5 per nine innings, and if he can avoid a blowup inning, the Giants should be able to spark an upset due to its recent success agianst Kershaw.
The Dodgers left hander allowed eight runs in three starts that spanned over 14 innings. Further, Kershaw has shown some regression early on, posting a 3.75 ERA with a FIP of 5.28 across an admittedly small sample.
San Francisco has been the better hitting team so far this season, the Giants are just about league average, and both teams are at elite at drawing walks. For the time being, I'll fade Kershaw if he is going to be priced like what he was in the past rather than what he has shown this season.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
