The Cardinals have dominated visiting foes at Busch Stadium in series immediately following the All-Star break.

Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals

Los Angeles received disappointing back-to-back efforts by its top two pitchers in dropping the first two games of this four-game set in St. Louis.  Thursday starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw managed to go just 4.1 innings and right-hander Chad Billingsley followed with just four innings.  “Billingsley just had a bad game,” manager Joe Torre said.  “He had no explanation and Kershaw didn’t either.”  The offense produced 13 hits in the 8-4 losing effort last night, but stranded 12 runners.  The Dodgers have still won six of their last eight games against the Cardinals, including a three-game sweep in Los Angeles on June 7-9.  The club won its only game of the year as a road underdog of +150 to +175 and stands at 7-5 in this spot the last three years (+610).

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The Dodgers are in desperate need of a victory against an AL opponent, with manager Joe Torre facing the Yankees in front of a national audience.

New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers

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All eyes will be on former Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez with the Dodgers looking to avoid a sweep in this interleague clash.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox

Los Angeles is set to play its sixth game (2-3) of a nine-game road trip, as the team looks to avoid being swept by Boston.  “You know you’re in a fight when you play in this ballpark,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.  The club is five games into a stretch of playing 15 of 18 games on the road.  Tonight’s television coverage will certainly center around OF Manny Ramirez’s return to Beantown.  Since his arrival in Los Angeles on July 31, 2008, the Dodgers have a 163-121 record, the best mark in the NL over that span.  In two games this weekend at Fenway, Ramirez is 3-for-9 with a home run and RBI.  The team finds itself a game back of the division-leading San Diego Padres going into tonight’s game.

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The Cardinals may have been sluggish in Game 1 after playing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball the night before, but expect a better performance with one of their aces taking the hill tonight.

St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers

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Atlanta currently sits 2 ½ games up in the NL East after completing a sweep of the Phillies, with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday.  In a span of 14 games, the Braves have climbed from last place in the division and 6 ½ games back, to its current position.  The Braves own a Major League-best 19-6 record at home this season, but now head west with its current 12-16 mark away from Turner Field (-490).  The team leads the majors with 237 walks and its .348 on-base percentage leads the National League.  Rookie OF Jason Heyward leads the team with 10 homers and is batting .287 with a .412 on-base percentage.  “The kid never ceases to amaze you,” manager Bobby Cox said.

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I talked about Joe Torre’s roster moves on Thursday, and by Sunday they had already come back to haunt him. As you may recall, Torre deactivated Jeff Weaver and Jon Garland, and activated Hiroki Kuroda in their place. Kuroda had been out for the first round with a back injury. I said then that  it seemed like a very odd decision – surely a healthy Garland or Weaver was better than a rusty and likely sore Kuroda. It turns out, for once, that I was right. Kuroda was terrible last night – allowing six runs while recording just four outs – and is the main reason why the Phillies are holding a 2-1 lead. Far be it from me to second guess Torre, but I really don’t get it.

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I’m very intrigued by tonight’s Big East showdown. Cincinnati has a pretty clear road to the BCS if they beat South Florida, and the Bulls have the same if they win. For South Florida that’s especially surprising because stud QB Matt Grothe is on the sideline for the year. There is all sorts of intrigue in this one – is Cincinnati for real? How about South Florida’s surprisingly stout defense? Can Cincy QB Tony Pike put himself into the heart of the Heisman race with a big performance here? How about Cincy receiver Mardy Gilyard? Do the Bearcats deserve national championship consideration? How much of a joke is the Big East? This is probably the highest profile Thursday night game we have seen yet this year. Last week we saw Nebraska, and Ndamukong Suh made a big leap into the Heisman race thanks to that game, so anything can happen here. I really respect Cincy coach Brian Kelly and tend to think that he has things going in the right direction with this program, so I am hoping for them. It’s a tough team in tough location, though, so it certainly won’t be easy.

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