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The Miami Marlins take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader. Our MLB odds series has our Marlins Dodgers prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Marlins Dodgers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had won 11 games in a row. Los Angeles had comfortably established itself as the second-best team in the National League and the leader in the National League West. The Dodgers, however, were going to lose a game at some point. They were going to pull a clunker.
It happened on Friday night against the Marlins. Los Angeles starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin was rocked for five home runs by Miami hitters. The Marlins scored an 11-3 win and took an important step toward the playoffs. The Marlins are battling the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Diego Padres for a wild card playoff spot. Every game matters, and every small degree of leverage counts with that many teams bunched together in a very tight race for the last two N.L. wild card berths behind the Philadelphia Phillies, who are in line for the first wild card spot.
However, as good as things went for the Marlins on Friday night, they took a bad turn on Saturday afternoon in the first game of a split day-night doubleheader at Dodger Stadium.
The afternoon opener of the double-dip — rescheduled from Sunday due to Hurricane Hilary's expected arrival in Southern California later this weekend — was a brutal defeat for the Marlins. They led 1-0 through seven innings behind the great pitching of their promising young starter Eury Perez. However, they couldn't take advantage of the Dodgers on a day when Los Angeles had to call up Ryan Pepiot for a spot start. The Marlins couldn't build a multi-run lead. They were playing with fire.
In the bottom of the eighth, their bullpen lost the plot.
Austin Barnes, the very light-hitting catcher who hit a game-winning eighth-inning home run for the Dodgers earlier in the week against the Milwaukee Brewers, squeezed in the tying run. Then Mookie Betts hit a two-run single.
Dodgers 3, Marlins 1. The Marlins let a very big Blue fish get away.
The nightcap will test Miami's resilience in its push to make the playoffs.
Here are the Marlins-Dodgers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Marlins-Dodgers Game 2 Odds
Miami Marlins: +1.5 (-125)
Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+104)
Over: 8.5 (-110)
Under: 8.5 (-110)
How To Watch Marlins vs. Dodgers Game 2
Article Continues Below
TV: Bally Sports Florida (Marlins) / SportsNet LA (Dodgers) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 9:10 p.m. ET/6:10 p.m. PT
*Watch Marlins-Dodgers Game 2 LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Marlins Could Cover The Spread
The Marlins' pitchers have largely figured out how to pitch to the Dodgers. They have limited Los Angeles to three runs in each of the first two games of this series. If Miami gives up precisely three runs in this next game, the Marlins should feel extremely good about their chances. Julio Urias is the starter for the Dodgers, and he has dominated on many occasions over the past few years, but not as often this year as in the past. Urias has been very spotty, and he usually hangs a changeup or curveball at some point in a game and gets punished for it. One three-run homer or a few solo shots could give the Marlin offense an early lift and set the right tone for this game.
Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread
The Dodgers have been on fire. They have lost only two games in August. They played a terrible game on Friday but then won a close game on Saturday afternoon, precisely the kind of game they have been winning with regularity in recent weeks. The Dodgers' pitching has been clutch, and what's important about that note is that it isn't one or two guys; it's everyone in the bullpen and most of the starting rotation as well. Everyone is contributing, and that's why the Dodgers are so hot right now, having won 12 of 13.
Final Marlins-Dodgers Prediction & Pick
The Dodgers have not hit the Marlins well in the first two games of the series, but after their late rally in Game 1, they should be ready to hit the baseball hard in Game 2. It's not a good spot for the Marlins.
Final Marlins-Dodgers Prediction & Pick: Dodgers -1.5
