Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants Betting Preview
Sunday Night Baseball features an NL West battle of the top two teams in baseball as the Los Angeles Dodgers (86-50) take on the San Francisco Giants (86-50). The Giants will host this one at Oracle Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
This will be the last of a three-game series between the two teams. After the Giants won the opener 3-2, the Dodgers took the second game 6-1 on Saturday.
In Saturday’s win, Trea Turner hit his 21st home run of the season to lead off the game, and Corey Seager hit his eighth home run. Julio Urias picked up the win after going 5.2 innings of one-run ball.
In the loss, Giants’ starter Jay Jackson lasted only a third of an inning after giving up three runs. San Francisco had nine hits but could only muster one run.
The Dodgers are the favorites despite playing on the road. They are -167 to win, while the Giants are +125.
Pitching Matchup
Los Angeles will turn to ace Walker Buehler (13-2, 2.05 ERA) in the finale. Buhler has been extremely impressive this season. In his last 15 games, he is 8-2 with a 1.64 ERA.
As of late Saturday night, the Giants have not named their starter for Sunday’s game.
By The Numbers
Offensively, the Dodgers have been one of the best teams in baseball. They rank third in scoring averaging 5.05 runs per game. The Giants rank ninth, averaging 4.74 runs per game.
On the defensive side, these have been the two best teams in baseball. In terms of scoring defense, Los Angeles ranks atop the majors allowing an average of just 3.48 runs to opponents. San Francisco ranks second, allowing 3.68 runs per game.
Dodgers Look To Take Over NL West Lead
For the majority of the season, the San Francisco Giants have been leading the NL West. With the win on Saturday, the Dodgers have tied up the division and will look to take the outright lead with a win Sunday.
Leading the way for the Dodgers on offense is first baseman Max Muncy. This season, he is hitting .256/.385/.539 and leads the team in both home runs (30) and runs batted in (78).
Recently, it has been Trea Turner who has been the Dodgers’ hottest hitter. In the last couple of weeks, he is hitting .314/.368/.549 with three home runs, five runs batted in, and a couple of stolen bases.
Giants Look For Home Field Advantage To Regain Lead
Over the last week, the Giants (4-6) and Dodgers (7-3) have been going in different directions. Having fallen into a tie with L.A., the Giants will look to use their home field advantage (44-23 at Oracle Park) to move back into sole possession of the first place in the division.
Brandon Crawford has been one of the best hitters for the Giants this season. On the season, he is hitting .290/.359/.506 with 19 home runs, 75 runs batted in, 58 runs scored, and ten stolen bases.
Mike Yastrzemski (21) and Brandon Belt (20) lead the team in home runs. While Yastrzemski is hitting .278 in 18 at-bats against Buehler, no Giants’ player has hit a home run off of Buehler as the Dodgers’ ace has had a lot of success against San Francisco.
Dodgers Take Division Lead
At -120 to win, Walker Buehler has the best odds of any pitcher at winning the NL Cy Young award. With his dominance this season, the Dodgers wouldn’t want any other pitcher on the mound as they look to take over first place in the NL West.
Between Buehler’s dominance, the Giants’ uncertainty of who is starting, and San Francisco’s overall poor recent record, this one is leaning the way of the Dodgers.
Take Los Angeles to win the finale Sunday night.
