The set-up: The 22-19 St. Louis Cardinals and the 26-19 Los Angeles Dodgers were both off on Monday and get together at Dodger Stadium Tuesday night for the opener of a three-game series. The Cardinals snapped a four-game losing slide with an 8-3 victory over San Francisco on Sunday. The Dodgers won 6-3 at home over the Marlins on Sunday and have followed a three-game skid of their own by winning four of their last five. St. Louis opens a six-game road trip with this game, while the Dodgers continue a 10-game homestand (the Cubs visit over the weekend).

The pitching matchup: Lance Lynn (4-2 & 2.78 ERA) goes for the Cards and Clayton Kershaw (7-2 & 2.15 ERA) for the Dodgers. Lynn gave up two HRs for the second straight start last Tuesday and took his first loss since April 11 with a 6-3 setback versus Boston. However, he did work at least six innings for the fifth time in his last six outings, with St. Louis winning all but one of those starts. Lynn owns a 4-1 career mark in eight starts versus the Dodgers (4.04 ERA / Cards are 5-3). Kershaw has won three CY Young awards and is off a brilliant performance in his last outing on Wednesday, scattering three hits over seven scoreless innings in a 6-1 victory at San Francisco. Kershaw has fared well against St. Louis in the regular season, posting a 6-5 career mark with a 3.18 ERA in 15 outings, as opposed to an 0-4 record in the playoffs.

The pick: The over/under number is always tantalizingly low in a Kershaw start and note that Lynn has allowed two HRs in each of his last two outings. He'll face an LA lineup which has averaged 5.74 RPG in going 16-7 at home and Kershaw could easily have his hands full with a St. Louis team which is 10-6 on the road (averaging 5.44 RPG), after erupting for 43 runs en route to back-to-back three-game sweeps at Atlanta and Miami from May 5-10. Make the Over an 8* play.