The Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the best teams in baseball this season after getting off to a terrible start and at 83-56 they are looking like the NL West division winners with ease and that is a nice feeling as they travel to Cincinnati to play the Reds, who are fighting to make the playoffs themselves as a wild card or division winner, battling out with the Pirates and the Cardinals in the Central division.
Both teams likely will be making the playoffs, but for the Reds it's about positioning, while for the Dodgers it's about staying healthy as they head to the postseason. The team is going up against Mike Leake from the Reds and is throwing Chris Capuano on Friday night and this will be a three game series that will go through the weekend and the Reds "need" this win more than the Dodgers do based on their positions for the postseason.
Check here for a link to get the Reds and Dodgers live stream.
Leake has a solid record and has won 11 games this season and the Reds are now very close to getting into the top spot in the division after winning three of four games against the Cardinals and the offense was one of the main reasons for that, as they outscored the team by nine runs in the series and had a sub-2.00 ERA. The Reds need a solid game from Leake and he has been off his game lately, losing two of three over his last six and they are meeting a Dodgers team, that has won six of seven games and now the team is in a comfortable position in the NL West.
Joey Votto has killed it against Capuano, but not in the last 10 games they have played and the Dodgers are ready to get Yasiel Puig back in the lineup after giving him some time off and now the team looks like it is ready to be an NL contender for the World Series. The Dodgers have been consistent with their rotation and on offense and the team ranks 15th in the league in runs and fourth in batting average in the league and the team is also ranked fourth in the league in on base percentage. The Reds are ranked 11th in runs and 17th in batting average and are seventh in on base percentage and the team has 79 wins on the season and looks ready to make the playoffs again.
