Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (20-17) head into the weekend on a positive note after pulling off a two-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners at Chavez Ravine as large betting favorites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com both times.
Los Angeles will be a comparable favorite in this three-game series against the Miami Marlins (16-20), starting on Friday night when three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw (5-3, 2.62 ERA) toes the rubber for the ninth time in the opener.
Marlins vs. Dodgers | OddsShark Matchup Report
The Dodgers are listed as -215 favorites at sports betting sites for Friday night with Kershaw on the mound off an impressive performance last Saturday versus the Angels, as he tossed five scoreless innings of an eventual 14-11 victory. The 33-year-old southpaw threw just 71 pitches and had one walk and five strikeouts.
Opposing Kershaw on the hill for the Marlins will be Sandy Alcantara (1-2, 2.72 ERA), who has put together three consecutive quality starts but walked away with no-decisions in two of them. Alcantara currently leads Miami in innings pitched (49.2) and home runs allowed (five).
The Marlins have yet to announce a starter for Saturday’s game, but the Dodgers are expected to go with last year’s National League Cy Young winner — Trevor Bauer (3-2, 2.50 ERA). Then in Sunday’s finale, the Dodgers will start Walker Buehler (1-0, 3.45 ERA) opposite the winless Pablo Lopez (0-3, 3.07 ERA), who is coming off his worst outing of the season last time out.
Lopez tied a season high by surrendering six earned runs and seven hits in an 11-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. The 25-year-old righty took his third loss of 2021 after giving up only two runs total in his previous three starts combined. Buehler has not had much luck lately either, with no-decisions in each of his past five outings and Los Angeles losing three of them while his ERA has risen from 1.50 to 3.45 during that stretch.
The good news for the Dodgers is that they have won six of the previous seven meetings with the Marlins, including six in a row before they lost the last one 13-7 back on August 15, 2019. Bettors should also expect a high-scoring series based on the most recent meetings, with the OVER on a 5-0 run in the last five between them (how the OVER/UNDER works).
Check out OddsShark on Twitter and Instagram or head to YouTube for analysis on this week’s top games. As well, the OddsShark Computer serves up daily MLB picks for bettors
