The Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Check out our MLB odds series for our Diamondbacks Dodgers prediction and pick.

Madison Bumgarner takes the ball for the Diamondbacks, while Dustin May gets the call for the Dodgers.

Madison Bumgarner had a 2.76 ERA on May 26. His ERA today is 5.01. It has all gone wrong for the former World Series ace. His days with the Giants seem even longer ago than eight years. Bumgarner was outstanding in the first month and a half of 2022, and then he has wilted. His ERA in June: over four runs. In July: over four runs. Then it got much worse in August, with Bumgarner posting an ERA of over nine runs. In three September starts, his ERA is over six. He has simply been getting pounded with regularity, and we'll see if he can hit the reset button before this season ends.

Dustin May returned to the Dodgers and their rotation in mid-August after a long injury layoff. The Dodgers have kept May's pitch counts down. He has not thrown more than 87 pitches in any of his five starts since rejoining the team. May has pitched more than five innings in only one of his four starts. May has logged 26 innings, giving up 10 earned runs, but if you look deeper, only one team has bothered him. The San Diego Padres scored nine of those 10 runs in two of May's five starts. In May's other three starts against non-Padre opponents, he has pitched 16 innings and allowed only one earned run. The Dodgers will use May for middle relief in the playoffs. They don't need him to pitch seven or eight innings. If he can be a guy who can throw three electric innings twice in a playoff series, that will be a significant plus for a Los Angeles team which can call upon a lot of different arms in October.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Diamondbacks-Dodgers MLB odds.

MLB Odds: Diamondbacks-Dodgers Odds

Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (+130)

Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (-156)

Over: 8.5 (-122)

Under: 8.5 (+100)

Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover the Spread

The Diamondbacks have come close to leading this series. The Dodgers have won two of the first three games, but the Diamondbacks led 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth in one of the two games they ultimately lost. They allowed five runs in the bottom of the eighth on Tuesday afternoon and let that game slip away, losing 6-5. One thing we have seen with the D-Backs all year, even when they aren't playing well, is that they always compete hard. This is not a lazy team. It's a flawed team, but it always puts up a genuine fight. Dustin May is a very talented pitcher, but we have seen him stumble occasionally. The Diamondbacks can get to him and create a different game from what most people expect.

Why The Dodgers Could Cover the Spread

The Dodgers have usually gotten a good start from Dustin May since he returned to the rotation. The Padres are the only team which has bothered him. The D-Backs are not likely to score bunches of runs against him.

On the other hand, Madison Bumgarner has been a bad pitcher since the start of August, and there's simply no other way to say it. There's no reason to think this will be a night when he pitches well. He has to prove it first.

Final Diamondbacks-Dodgers Prediction & Pick

This is simple: Madison Bumgarner is pitching terribly. The Dodgers should eat him up and cruise.

Final Diamondbacks-Dodgers Prediction & Pick: Dodgers -1.5