Dodgers vs. Astros Betting Line – August 21

Carrie Stroup here with your Dodgers vs. Astros betting line for Friday.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (67-53) at HOUSTON ASTROS (66-56) 

Sportsbook.ag Line: Houston -122, Los Angeles +112, Total: 8                                                                   

Two divisional leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, go head-to-head in an interleague matchup this Friday night.                                                                                                                  

The Dodgers have been able to hold off the Giants in the NL West up to this point and come into this contest 2.5-games ahead of them in the division. They have gone 5-3 in their last eight games, dominating the likes of Washington and Cincinnati in that time, but were unable to get a win over two attempts in Oakland most recently. On Wednesday they were outscored 5-2 by the Athletics as the Los Angeles offense managed a mere two hits; both going for extra bases. All season long, 3B Justin Turner (.312) has been one of the team’s best hitters, but since returning from a DL stint is just 4-for-22 (.182) with a pair of strikeouts.

After briefly losing their hold on the AL West, the Astros have stormed back into first place with victories in five of their last eight games. In that time they won three contests by a single run and went into extra innings three times; two of which they won. Their 1-0 loss against the Rays on Thursday night put the teams at 2-2 over the four-game set as the Astros offense was held to one hit in the pitcher’s duel. SS Carlos Correa (.283) has been huge for this club despite being just 20-years-old and already has double-digit homers (15) and stolen bases (10) in his 63 big league games.

The pitching matchup for this contest pegs LHP Brett Anderson (7-7, 3.48 ERA) of the Dodgers up against RHP Mike Fiers (5-9, 3.87 ERA) of the host group. Playing on the road has certainly not been enjoyable for this Los Angeles crew as they are a meager 25-33 (.431) when away from home as Houston has managed a record of 42-21 (.667) when playing in front of its fans.

Since the Astros have moved to the American League, these teams seldom meet and have not seen each other at all in the past three seasons. Trends show that L.A. is 19-3 (.864) after a game where they had four or less hits over the past two seasons as they have gone a meager 2-7 (.222) when Anderson is pitching on five or six days rest this year. A couple of young, talented OFs could be out for this one as Yasiel Puig (Hamstring) is questionable for the visitors while George Springer (Wrist) is on the DL for Houston.                                                                                            

Anderson has had a successful and healthy season for the Dodgers in 2015 and has already started more games (23) than he did in the last three years combined. His talent was never really in question in the past, more just the health, so the solid effort this year is no surprise as he has kept his sinker down and forced batters to hit it on the ground an amazing 66.8% of the time. The ball has been put in play plenty against him as he is striking out a career-low 6.0 batters per nine innings while they are hitting .310 BABIP against him. The 27-year-old has had a quality start in seven of his last 10 outings and when he saw the Reds most recently, he went six innings with three runs allowed on six hits and struck out three (2 walks) in a winning effort.

His one opportunity to face the Astros came in 2013 and he did not disappoint, giving up two unearned runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts over six innings of work. Overall, the players on Houston who have seen Anderson are a combined 7-for-31 (.226) with 10 strikeouts as SS Jed Lowrie (3-for-12, 1 double) is the only player with double-digit at-bats.

The team’s bullpen has struggled, going 23-22 with a 4.20 ERA (1.31 WHIP) and is 32-for-50 (64%) in save opportunities. Kenley Jansen (2.48 ERA, 24 saves) has blown just one save this season and has struck out 59 batters in 32.2 innings (16.3 K/9).                                                                           

Fiers was acquired by the Astros in order to increase the depth of their rotation and the 30-year-old has been unable to get a win in his first three starts with them despite giving up just one earned run in his last two outings (12 IP). He has continued to strikeout the opposition at a solid rate (9.1 K/9), but has seen his control drop to a career-worst 3.3 BB/9 in a season where he has at least 10 starts. The righty has reached career-highs in games (24) and innings pitched (135) this year and in that time has not been able to keep the ball from leaving the park as batters have gone yard 16 times (1.07 HR/9), a number that could rise in Minute Maid Park.

He’s had some success in his time (3 starts) against the Dodgers, going 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA (0.95 WHIP), but took a loss when they met earlier this year after giving up five runs on five hits with eight strikeouts (5 walks) over five frames. OF Andre Ethier has tagged him for four hits in six at-bats, getting two extra-base hits and a pair of RBI as both 1B Adrian Gonzalez (2-for-7) and OF Alex Guerrero (1-for-2) have gone deep against him. OFs Joc Pederson and Carl Crawford have not done well in limited at-bats against the righty, going a combined 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.

Much of Houston’s success this year has come from the improved ability of its relievers who have gone 23-19 with a 2.67 ERA (1.03 WHIP) and have been able to save 30-of-47 (64%) games. Luke Gregerson (3.00 ERA, 23 saves) has been solid since blowing consecutive games in mid-August and has not given up a hit with seven strikeouts (0 walks) over six scoreless innings since.