San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview
NL West rivals will square off in the second game of the NLDS Wednesday as the San Diego Padres (0-1) take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0). Los Angeles will host this one at Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:37 pm ET.
The Dodgers secured the opener on Tuesday 5-3. In the win, Julio Urias went five innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Trea Turner got the offense started for the Dodgers as he hit a first-inning home run in the victory.
Mike Clevinger was roughed up in the loss. He gave up five runs (four earned) in just 2.2 innings for the Padres. Offensively, Will Myers hit a home run, but the Padres’ offense couldn’t keep up with the poor pitching performance.
The Dodgers open as the favorite Wednesday playing at home. They are -205 to win, while the Padres’ moneyline sits at +172. The runline features San Diego +1.5 (-130), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.
Padres Turn To Darvish To Even Up Series
Given that the Padres went just 5-14 during the regular season against Los Angeles, they knew they would be in for a tough series. With that being said, they will look to their ace, Yu Darvish, to try to even up the series before heading to San Diego.
In 30 games this season, Darvish is 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and he has 197 strikeouts in 194.2 innings of work. On the road this season, Darvish was 9-5 with a 3.50 ERA.
Darvish was superb in his first postseason outing against the Mets. In that Wild Card matchup, he went seven innings, allowing just a single run on six hits.
Offensively, Trent Grisham has been the Padres’ best hitter thus far this postseason. In 11 at bats, he has five hits, including two home runs and four runs batted in.
Dodgers Stick With Southpaw For Game 2
After Julio Urias helped secure a win for the Dodgers in Game 1, manager Dave Roberts will go back to a southpaw as Clayton Kershaw will get the ball in this one. In 22 starts this season, Kershaw went 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and he had 137 strikeouts in 126.1 innings.
Kershaw picked up a win in his last start against the Rockies back on October 5. In that start, he went five innings, allowing one run on one hit while striking out nine.
Offensively, the Dodgers were the most prolific scoring team in the majors this year. They rank first overall, averaging 5.23 runs per game (5.21 at home).
Leading the Dodgers’ offense are a number of superstars, including Mookie Betts (35 HR, 82 RBI, 117 R, 12 SB), Will Smith (24 HR, 87 RBI), Freddie Freeman (21 HR, 100 RBI, 117 R, 13 SB), and Trea Turner (21 HR, 100 RBI, 101 R, 27 SB).
Take Padres On The Runline
With Clayton Kershaw on the mound and the Dodgers playing at home, where they are 57-24 this season, it is hard to bet against Los Angeles. Still, at -205, there isn’t a ton of value on the Dodgers straight up.
Rather, expect Yu Darvish to come out and keep this one close for San Diego. It still may be a stretch to think the Padres can win outright, but it is not hard to fathom a situation in which San Diego keeps this one close.
For that reason, take San Diego at +1.5 (-130) on the runline Wednesday night.
