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The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants. Check out our MLB odds series for our Dodgers Giants prediction and pick.
Walker Buehler takes the ball for the Dodgers, while Jakob Junis goes to the mound for the Giants.
Walker Buehler had a 1.96 ERA on May 8. Since then, he has allowed that number to increase by nearly two full runs. Buehler's ERA is currently 3.84 after a series of bad starts in which he has given up homers and other hard-hit balls. He has been ripped when he uses his four-seam fastball and relies less on his slider and curve. Buehler can't seem to resist the inclination to go with the heat; he keeps getting burned. Buehler has allowed four home runs in his last two games and seven walks in his last four appearances. He simply lacks command right now and needs to find a way to get it back.
Jakob Junis has a 2.51 ERA. He has allowed more than two runs in only one of his eight starts this season, when he gave up four runs on May 20 to the Padres. Junis has allowed a home run in five of his last six starts, but he doesn't allow many baserunners, and when a man does get on base, Junis pitches out of trouble. Very few of his runs come from non-home run sources. If teams can't take him deep, they don't score very much against him.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Dodgers-Giants MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Dodgers-Giants Odds
Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+116)
San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-140)
Over: 8 (-118)
Under: 8 (-104)
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Why The Dodgers Could Cover the Spread
Walker Buehler has not been a good pitcher the past several weeks, but he isn't going to remain bad. He will use better pitch selection. He will get better ride on his fastball when he throws it. He will polish his technique and return to being the ace the Dodgers know he can be. He's way too good to remain mediocre.
Also, the Dodgers raked in Chicago against the White Sox. Their offense came alive on Thursday in the final game of that series. It's the perfect way to go into this series in San Francisco against a struggling Giants team which just lost a home series to the Rockies, which is unheard of. San Francisco entered the Colorado series having won 12 of 13 against the Rox, but the Giants played an absolutely brutal series filled with awful at-bats with runners in scoring position, plus a defensive implosion in the 4-2 loss to Colorado on Thursday. The Giants do not look anything like the team which battled the Dodgers for 162 games last year, and then met in the NLDS.
Why The Giants Could Cover the Spread
After stinking up the joint against the Rockies, you know the Giants are going to be mad, motivated, and intense for this huge series against the Dodgers. Beyond beating their rival, the Giants need this series because they're sliding downward in the National League wild card race. The Atlanta Braves are surging, which means that with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the Giants, the Braves could swoop in and pluck that sixth and final playoff spot, which would leave San Francisco out in the cold. It's time for the Giants to make a stand.
Final Dodgers-Giants Prediction & Pick
Walker Buehler is struggling. The Giants are as well. The Giants, though, know they need to turn their season around right here, whereas the Dodgers don't feel the same urgency given their lofty place in the standings. This is a great spot for the Giants, who will win outright.
Final Dodgers-Giants Prediction & Pick: Giants +1.5
