Smoking Ace – Haren’s Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Arizona Diamondbacks (23-29) at Los Angeles Dodgers (35-18)

BetOnline MLB odds: Dodgers -120, D-Backs +100, Total 7.5

Right-hander Dan Haren (4-4, 2.54 ERA) will get the start for the D-Backs, while the Dodgers counter with southpaw Randy Wolf (3-1, 2.84 ERA).

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* ARIZ has played five of its last eight games OVER the total

* ARIZ has won five of its last six road games

* LA has won 13 of its last 19 games

* LA has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total

* LA has won 18 of its last 24 home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* LA has won nine of the last 11 meetings

* LA has won seven of the last eight meetings as the home team

Hiroki Kuroda didn’t embarrass himself in his first start back from the disabled list, allowing two runs in five innings for the Dodgers, and manager Joe Torre did not have to push the panic button and go with Clayton Kerhsaw early as he had feared. Kershaw will now be able to make his next start on Friday as planned. It was L.A.’s bad luck that it ran into a hot pitcher on Monday night, with Billy Buckner throwing six shutout innings at them. Reliever Tony Pena almost blew it in the ninth, but ‘Zona held on for the 3-2 win. It was the Dodger bullpen that blew it well before that, as Cory Wade and Brent Leach threw five wild pitches between them.

Dan Haren is logging a heavier workload than usual this season. The veteran right-hander, who has had to pick up some of the slack in the absence of Brandon Webb, has averaged seven innings per outing, and his 0.90 WHIP ratio is the best in the majors among starters. The .211 batting average against him is better than Zach Greinke or Johan Santana. Haren’s control has also been rather astonishing. Over the two seasons prior to this one, he had 398 strikeouts and just 95 walks, a ratio of about 4.2 K’s per base on balls. This season, however, he has gone way beyond that, fanning 71 and allowing just nine walks. In his last three outings, Haren has registered 20 strikeouts without walking anyone. That’s simply fantastic.

Randy Wolf was brilliant last time he faced Arizona, giving up just two hits and a run over seven innings on April 12. He’s been very consistent, surrendering two runs or less in five of his last six starts. Arizona has been poor against lefties, registering just a 5-10 record. That explains why Torre was ready to stick Kershaw in the game last night. However, we still like the idea of getting Haren at even money, because with his control, he takes away one of the things the Dodgers do to get their offense going, especially since the loss of Manny Ramirez, which is drawing walks. Let’s go with the underdog D-Backs in the BetOnline National League baseball betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: ARIZONA (Even) **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)