Can Kuroda Keep It Going? | IFIWEREABETTINMAN

Hiroki Kuroda is a great underdog bet today at +129. He is coming off a complete game shutout of the Cubs last Friday night. The Cubs are one of the hottest teams in baseball and one of the best offensive clubs, yet Kuroda gave up only four hits, walked nobody and struck out 11 batters in that game.

Today, Kuroda will face the Padres, one of the worst offenses I have ever seen. With the exception of Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez, I think the Padres lineup could hit with blindfolds on and have about the same numbers they do now, not to mention the lack of plate presence. Not one batter in the Padres lineup is capable of scaring an opposing pitcher.

If Kuroda has the same stuff he had in his last game, the Padres won't score one run off of him. The only reason he and the Dodgers are underdogs is because they are opposed by Jake Peavy. Peavy has a great record against the Dodgers and his name demands so much respect by bettors that odds makers have to set him as the favorite.

Peavy is set as the favorite even though he hasn't pitched in a month, hasn't even had a rehab start and has no offense to support him. Peavy's elbow could flare up again by the third inning for all we know. He probably won't be as sharp as he should be considering the lay off. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets hammered by the Dodgers' young, aggressive hitters.

As always, nobody ever knows what is going to happen, but taking Kuroda over Peavy makes a lot of sense to me.

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