Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Washington Nationals advanced to a National League Division Series for a matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers after edging the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in Tuesday’s Wild Card Game.
The Nationals closed as home favorites against the Brewers at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com but find themselves listed as +185 underdogs (bet $100 to win $185) on the series prices for the NLDS starting on Thursday in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers are -250 favorites (bet $250 to win $100) to win the series and -165 chalk for Game 1 on the MLB odds and find themselves in a much better position with their starting rotation. They are set to go with Walker Buehler (14-4, 3.26 ERA) in Game 1 followed in some order by Clayton Kershaw (16-5, 3.03 ERA) and Hyun Jin-Ryu (14-5, 2.32 ERA), who looked like the runaway NL Cy Young Award winner heading into the All-Star break.
While Ryu struggled a bit down the stretch, they are still in better shape because Washington used both Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in the Wild Card Game. If needed, Rich Hill (4-1, 2.45 ERA) should be ready to roll for the Dodgers for Game 4 on the road as well.
The Nationals will hand the ball to Patrick Corbin (14-7, 3.25 ERA) in Game 1, and you can certainly argue that he was their best pitcher this season. Corbin signed a six-year deal with Washington worth $140 million in the offseason after spending the first six years of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, he has struggled on the road this season with a 6-5 mark and 4.18 ERA compared to 8-2 and 2.40 at home, respectively.
Los Angeles went 9-4 versus Washington in 13 meetings during the regular season, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, but just 4-3 in the seven games played at Dodger Stadium. The UNDER has also gone 4-2-1 in the last seven head-to-head matchups and 7-4-1 in the previous 12 at sports betting sites, including 3-0-1 in the most recent four-game series in Los Angeles between May 9 and 12.
More good news for the Dodgers is that third baseman Justin Turner (back) and reliever Joe Kelly (soreness) are good to go for the NLDS according to manager Dave Roberts after missing time due to injuries.
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