MLB Picks: July 6th 2012
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers -101
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On Friday we have all 30 teams returning to action and there is a bevy of pitchers that are really pitching well right now. In fact a total of twelve pitchers with ERA’s under 3.00 over their last three starts combined and just four pitchers with ERA’s over 6.00 in their last three starts combined. This prediction is courtesy of Touthouse.com handicapper, Freddy Wills.

Dodgers -101 (1.5* FREE PLAY)
One of those pitchers is Clayton Kershaw who absolutely has been on fire posting a 1.71 ERA in his last three starts and has a 2.78 ERA on the road this year. He’s 7-1 in his last 8 starts vs. the Diamondbacks ironically considering the Diamondbacks have always had success against lefties. The Dbacks though have a combined 129 AB and just a .140 and .381 OPS to show for it against Kershaw. The Dodgers have been struggling to score runs, but since their win against the Mets on Sunday night they’ve won 3 of 4 with Thursday’s game pending. The Dodgers are 14-3 in Kershaw’s last 17 on 4 days rest and it just so happens he will be on 4 days rest here again before the All Star break.

On the hill for the Diamondbacks is Josh Collmenter who really pitched over his head last year and is having a decent year thus far. However, he did not pitch well against the Dodgers and even though Matt Kemp still won’t be looming in the on deck circle Andre Ethier, Gordon and Juan Rivera are a combined 9-12 and that’s enough for me to think they can score some runs to support Clayton Kershaw.

Notable Hot Starters:
Justin Masterson (2-1, 0.82 WHIP, 2.05 ERA)
Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 1.34 WHIP, 2.30 ERA)
Hiroki Kuroda (2-1, 0.95 WHIP, 2.14 ERA)
Francisco Liriano (3-0, 1.11 WHIP, 2.84 ERA)
Travis Wood (3-0, 0.85 WHIP, 0.44 ERA)
Johan Santana (2-1, 0.95 WHIP, 0.90 ERA)
Yovani Gallardo (2-1, 1.29 WHIP, 2.33 ERA)
Tom Milone (2-1, 0.81 WHIP, 0.86 ERA)
C.J. Wilson (3-0, 1.47 WHIP, 2.45 ERA)
Jake Westbrook (3-0, 1.14 WHIP, 2.57 ERA)
J.A. Happ (2-1, 1.05 WHIP, 2.84 ERA)

Cold Starter Of The Day:
Though this is not going to be any sort of a sports pick that is backed by our sports monitor we still like to give out the cold pitcher with the best shot at winning because often times there is a lot of value. Today’s pitcher Drew Smyly will start against the struggling Kansas City Royals who have limited at bats against him just 23 posting a .681 OPS. I’ll give him the better chance since he’s at home against Jonathan Sanchez who posts an 8.44 ERA over his last three starts.

Notable Cold Starters:
Jonathan Sanchez (0-3, 2.25 WHIP, 8.44 ERA)
Kyle Kendrick (1-2, 1.62 WHIP, 6.23 ERA)
Kevin Millwood (1-2, 1.74 WHIP, 6.39 ERA)