Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (49-31) ride a five-game winning streak into Washington for the opener of a four-game series on Thursday against the Nationals (40-38) in a battle between a pair of second-place teams in the National League.
The Dodgers opened as -135 road favorites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for the first game with Tony Gonsolin (0-0, 2.77 ERA) on the hill opposite Patrick Corbin (5-6, 5.33 ERA) of the Nationals, who have won four in a row (how the moneyline works).
Dodgers vs. Nationals | OddsShark Matchup Report
Gonsolin has stepped into the fifth starter’s role for Los Angeles with Dustin May out for the season, and he has yet to surrender more than one run in four starts or go more than four innings during that stretch.
The 27-year-old righty had his longest outing of the year on June 25 versus the Chicago Cubs, going four innings and allowing one run with two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. The Dodgers have gone a perfect 4-0 in his starts so far in 2021.
Meanwhile, Corbin suffered his first loss in four starts last time out at the Miami Marlins despite giving up just three runs and five hits in six innings with no walks and six strikeouts. In his previous two outings — both wins — he gave up a combined three runs and 12 hits in 14.1 innings with two walks and 14 strikeouts. Washington has won in seven of his last 11 trips to the mound.
Friday’s pitching matchup might be the best of the series though with Julio Urias (9-3, 3.95 ERA) toeing the rubber for Los Angeles against Max Scherzer (7-4, 2.14 ERA). On Saturday, it will be Clayton Kershaw (9-7, 3.25 ERA) of the Dodgers versus Paolo Espino (2-2, 2.02 ERA) of the Nationals, and then Trevor Bauer (8-5, 2.59 ERA) for Los Angeles taking on Joe Ross (5-7, 4.02 ERA) in the finale on Sunday.
Los Angeles is kicking off an eight-game road trip at Washington, and the home-road disparities could definitely come into play in this series. The Dodgers are 21-18 away from home this season compared to 28-13 at Chavez Ravine while their opponent is 24-18 at Nationals Park and only 16-20 on the road.
Los Angeles swept a three-game home set by a combined score of 13-5 between April 9-11 after losing three of the previous four meetings in the series. The UNDER is also 9-5-1 in the past 15 meetings at online betting sites.
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