Pittsburgh Pirates at Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview
As stunning as it might sound, the Pittsburgh Pirates (21-27) will be looking for the sweep as they take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (33-16) in the finale of a three-game series on Wednesday. Los Angeles will host this one at Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
After beating Los Angeles 6-5 on Monday, the Pirates backed it up with a 5-3 win on Tuesday. In the win, Mitch Keller took the win after allowing just two runs on two hits over five innings.
Offensively, the Pirates hit two-run home runs in both the first and second innings. Michael Chavis went deep in the first while Tucupita Marcano homered in the second.
Julio Urias took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked one while striking out eight.
Trea Turner hit his fifth home run of the season, but it wasn’t enough to catch Pittsburgh’s early surge. In total, the Dodgers only managed four hits, although they did leave a total of 18 runners on base throughout this contest.
The Dodgers are the favorite playing at home Wednesday. They are -250 to win while the Pirates’ moneyline sits at +205. The runline features Pittsburgh +1.5 (+100), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Pirates Trying To Stay Competitive In NL Central
At 21-27, the Pirates have surprisingly been somewhat competitive in the NL Central this season. Entering play Wednesday, the Bucs sit in third place in the division, 9.5 games back of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.
Still, they will try to improve on their 10-13 road record and try to chip away at the deficit in the division.
Taking the mound in the finale will be veteran southpaw Jose Quintana. This season, Quintana is 1-2 in nine starts, but he is sporting a solid 2.15 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and he has struck out 38 in 46 innings.
In his last start, he took a no-decision against the Padres after going 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out four.
The Pirates have struggled offensively this season. They currently rank 28th in scoring averaging 3.43 runs per game (3.09 on the road).
Bryan Reynolds has had some success as he is hitting .212/.30.2/.388 with a team-leading seven home runs. Dan Vogelbach has also had some success hitting .241/.321/.457 with six home runs, 14 runs batted in, and 14 runs scored.
Dodgers Trying To Figure Out Pittsburgh Puzzle
The Dodgers currently have the best odds in all of baseball to win the World Series at +450. Despite the high expectations, they have just not been able to figure out the Pittsburgh Pirates as they are 1-4 in five games against them this season.
Trying to add another win to that total will be 27-year-old righty Mitch White. In seven games this season, White is 1-0 with a 4.60 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and has 15 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched.
Keep an eye on both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in this one. Both of these superstars have hit Jose Quintana well in their careers.
For Betts, he is hitting .316 in 19 at bats with a home run and two runs batted in. Freeman has also hit well as he is hitting .300 in 10 at bats with a home run.
Overall, Betts has been the Dodgers’ best hitter. He is currently hitting .298/.387/.601 with a team-leading 15 home runs and 50 runs scored. He also has 33 runs batted in and four stolen bases on the year.
Value In Pittsburgh
With the differences between these two teams on paper, it is hard to not bet on Los Angeles. Still, there has just been something about Pittsburgh this year that the Dodgers have not been able to figure out.
Plus, while the Dodgers are the obvious favorite, there is significantly more value in betting for the Pirates. Don’t be afraid to take Pittsburgh on the moneyline at +205, and, at the very least, there is plenty of value in taking them at +1.5 on the runline at +100.
