One of the fiercest rivalries in all of baseball will take place on this Thursday night as the San Francisco Giants travel to Dodger Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the start of a four-game series. Let's take a look at our MLB odds series where our Giants-Dodgers prediction and pick will be revealed.

At the moment, it appears that the Giants may be missing out on the postseason festivities barring a miracle. Entering this one with a dead-even 76-76 record, San Francisco is three games back from the Wild Card with only ten games remaining in the regular season. With the urgency to win at an all-time high, San Francisco will send out lefty Kyle Harrison who is 1-1 with a 5.18 ERA in only five starts on the season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are once again proving that they are the cream of the crop within the Nation League. Well on their way to another 100-win season with a record that currently sits at 93-58 and are fresh off of seeing their five-game winning streak get snapped by Detroit on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the Dodgers are in firm pursuit of the Atlanta Braves for home-field advantage in the postseason format and winning a majority of their remaining games down the stretch will be pivotal. In line for the start in this one for the boys in blue will be Emmet Sheehan who is 3-1 with a 5.44 ERA.

Here are the Giants-Dodgers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Giants-Dodgers Odds

San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-128)

Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+106)

Over: 8.5 (-120)

Under: 8.5 (-120)

How To Watch Giants vs. Dodgers

TV: Spectrum SportsNet

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 10:10 ET/7:10nPT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread

Without a doubt, it is safe to say that the Giants playoffs start now. At this point of the regular season, San Francisco is officially in must-win mode and cannot afford to commit mistakes the rest of the way out. With their margin of error extremely slim, the Giants must turn their focus on making plays one step at a time to achieve a playoff berth.

Having to currently pass up Chicago, Miami, and Cincinnati in the frenzy that is the NL Wild Card race, the Giants must make it a priority later tonight to improve at the plate in a big way. As it stands, the Giants have not been up to snuff with the bats this year as they rank 20th or worse in most hitting categories statistically. Indeed, repeating this sluggish approach at the dish will be their downfall if it doesn't get fixed soon.

Luckily, the Giants pitching staff has swooped in to save the day more often than not. If San Fran is going to go into enemy territory and cover the spread at the very latest, then twirling the baseball to near perfection will need to occur. On paper, the Giants boast the 13th-best ERA in the majors and will need starter Emmet Sheehan to get into a groove in the early going of this one to give his team the necessary confidence to down the rival Dodgers.

Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread

On the other side of things, the Dodgers enter this competition as heavy favorites and for good reason. However, the Dodgers surprisingly have a losing record against the Giants in their six matchups and have only defeated San Francisco twice during that span. Is Thursday evening the night where LA finally sticks it to their NL West rivals?

First things first, this is a roster that is as well balanced as they come in the baseball world. Whether it's swatting baseballs into the bleachers or making opposing hitters whiff on fastballs, the Dodgers simply know how to play the game right. Believe it or not, the Dodgers have used their extremely lofty payroll to supplant themselves with much-needed depth in all positions. Because of this, Los Angeles impressively has a whopping four players with 92 or more RBIs and also boast the second-highest slugging percentage in baseball.

Not to mention, but the Giants have dropped 11 of their last 12 games on the road which obviously falls into the favor of the Dodgers. Although Los Angeles hasn't put their best foot forward against the Giants this season, LA clearly has more talent within their clubhouse and anything less than covering the -1.5 run spread should be considered a letdown.

Final Giants-Dodgers Prediction & Pick

Certainly, there is a ton of bad blood between these two rivals, and with major postseason implications on the line, both sides should give it all they have on Thursday. Regardless, the safe pick here is Los Angeles for a multitude of reasons.

Final Giants-Dodgers Prediction & Pick: Dodgers -1.5 (+106)