The defending World Series champions hook up with the best team in the Majors this season when the Dodgers and Giants begin a best-of-five National League divisional-round playoff series Friday night out by McCovey Cove. San Francisco won 107 games this year and needed every one of them to claim home-field advantage for this series. But Los Angeles is actually lined as a -160 favorite to win this NLDS.
Logan Webb hits the hill for the Giants here against Walker Buehler for LA. How are we playing Game 1 with our free baseball betting pick?
MLB Playoffs Betting Odds
Friday’s baseball playoffs betting lines opened Los Angeles as a road favorite of around -135 for Game 1, with an over/under of seven runs. Early betting action then dropped the Dodgers 20 cents to around -115 at Bovada.
MLB Playoffs Betting Preview
Los Angeles reached this NLDS by beating St. Louis in the NL wild-card game Wednesday night 3-1 on a Chris Taylor home run in the bottom of the ninth. Going back into the regular season, the Dodgers are 9-1 over their last ten games. But they never could catch the Giants in that NL West race. San Francisco, meanwhile, won eight of its last nine games during the regular season to finish one game ahead of Los Angeles in the NL West and in the battle for the best record in the National League. So instead of playing a wild-card game mid-week, the Giants have been chillin’ for four days. San Francisco took this season’s series from LA 10 games to nine.
Game 1 Pitching Match-Up
Webb hit 13/26 on quality starts this season but finished 0 for his last three. Last Wednesday, he gave up four runs and six hits through seven innings, with zero walks against eight strikeouts, in an 11-4 San Francisco victory over San Diego. But he allowed nine runs over his last three starts – eight earned – and 14 hits through 16 innings. The Giants played a super 21-5 with Webb this season, 14-2 since the All-Star break! Over three starts this season against the Dodgers, Webb allowed four ER and just seven hits through 16 innings, with four walks against 17 whiffs. San Francisco won two of those three games. Buehler hit 24/33 on quality starts this year. Last Sunday, he held Milwaukee to one run and three hits through five innings, with one walk and 11 strikeouts, in a 10-3 LA victory. And just before that, he tossed seven shutout innings against the Padres. The Dodgers played 22-11 with Buehler this year but only 3-4 his last seven times out. Over six starts against the Giants this year, five very good and one very bad, Buehler allowed nine ER and 27 hits through 37 total innings, with nine walks against 33 K’s. The Dodgers split those six games.
Splits With the Sticks
Los Angeles batted .245 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .334 team OBP and a .425 team slugging percentage. San Francisco slashed .250/.328/.447 against RH pitching.
Both these teams are without a key stick due to injuries, Brandon Belt for SF, Max Muncy for LA.
- Get more details: Dodgers at Giants NLDS Game 1 Match-up Stats
The Bullpens
The Dodgers bullpen posted a .316 ERA this season, which ranked No. 2 in Baseball, along with a 1.19 WHIP, which ranked No. 3, and a 2.42 K/BB ratio. The Giants pen put up a 2.99 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP, both of which led the Majors, and a 3.07 K/BB ratio, which ranked No. 2.
So these are two of the very best bullpens in Baseball.
More Picks: Zank’s Cardinal vs. Sun Devils Week 6 Pick ATS
MLB Betting Trends
- The Dodgers played 48-33 on the road this season.
- The Giants played 54-27 at home.
- The Dodgers played 73-42 against right-handed starters this season.
- The Giants played 79-35 against RH starters.
- The home teams are 3-0 so far this MLB post-season.
Totals Report
The Under was 81-71 in Dodgers games this season. The Under was 83-74 in Giants games. Totals split 9-9 in Dodgers-Giants this season. Totals split 40-40 in games played at Oracle Park this season.
