The Los Angeles Dodgers will face the San Francisco Giants in the first matchup of a three-game series on Tuesday night. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Dodgers-Giants prediction and pick.
It’s always a good time when these two rivals meet, but this series has a little extra weight to it. The Giants are currently in the lead in the extremely competitive NL West, but the Dodgers trail by only two games. Both teams are also trying to fend off the San Diego Padres, who are only 5.5 games back of first place. The division lead could change hands in this series, so Oracle Park should have a playoff atmosphere to it. This is about as important as a series can get in late July, so Tuesday night’s game should be an exciting opener.
Here’s how the bookmakers have set the lines for Tuesday’s game.
MLB Odds: Dodgers-Giants Odds
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Los Angeles Dodgers ML (-115)
San Francisco Dodgers ML (+105)
Over 8 runs (-120)
Under 8 runs (+100)
Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread
Los Angeles has suffered a couple of blows to their pitching staff in the form of injuries and legal problems. Luckily for the Dodgers, they’ll be able to send out one of two healthy starting pitchers they have. Julio Urias will take the mound for Los Angeles in this contest.
Urias has been a strong starter this season, earning himself a 3.63 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Besides his overall season stats, Urias has a couple of other statistical edges on the Giants. The righty has actually been a more effective starter when playing on the road, having his ERA drop from 3.88 at home to 3.43 on the road. His WHIP follows closely behind, dropping to .99 when Urias is away from Dodger Stadium.
Urias also faced the Giants the last time these two teams played a series, pitching seven innings and allowing only one run. San Francisco is a pretty tough lineup, but Urias has shown that he can work through it.
Los Angeles also has one of the best lineups in the MLB. They rank inside the top ten in OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage. The Dodgers actually hit better on the road, seeing a small jump in all of the aforementioned stats. They do have a pretty tough matchup in Giants starter Logan Webb, but the Dodgers are good enough to hang with anyone.
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
The aforementioned Logan Webb has come out of nowhere this season. This is his third career season with the Giants and also his best one. He owns an ERA of 3.54 and a WHIP of 1.25 on the season, but those numbers drastically improve whenever Webb gets to pitch at home. His ERA drops to 1.64 with his WHIP plummeting to 1.00 in Oracle Park. Those are elite numbers, so it’s reasonable to expect a strong outing from Webb.
The Giants’ lineup also has some advantages against Urias. San Francisco is better at hitting righties than they are lefties, proven by their batting average jumping from .241 to .244. The Giants are also a better offensive team at home, batting .254 at Oracle park as opposed to .235 anywhere else.
Final Dodgers-Giants Prediction & Pick
This game will be a close one, but the Dodgers should be able to walk away with a victory. They have a slightly more consistent pitcher on the mound and the lineups are essentially even. Urias should be able to outpitch Webb by a slim margin, but that will be enough for a Dodger win.
FINAL PICK: Los Angeles Dodgers ML (-115)
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