Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers will be facing their closest competitor in the National League West division race for a three-game series starting on Monday night when they take on the Padres in San Diego as opening -130 favorites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
A sweep by the Padres against the Dodgers this week would make things interesting in the NL West race during the final two weeks of the regular season, and San Diego has had some modest success against the league leaders so far in this truncated campaign with three wins in their seven matchups according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
The teams first met this season back on Aug. 3-5 in San Diego, with the Padres squeaking out a 5-4 win as +120 home underdogs in the opener before the Dodgers came back with consecutive victories. The Dodgers then hosted the Padres for four games from Aug. 10-13, with San Diego taking the first two games in that set before Los Angeles won the last two.
Overall the Dodgers hold a 7-3 edge in the last 10 games between the division rivals dating back to September of last season, with the OVER/UNDER going 4-5-1 at online betting sites during that stretch. Four of their seven meetings this season have been UNDER results.
Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 1.98 ERA) is in line to start for the Dodgers on Monday night, and he’s coming off a middling outing against the Diamondbacks last Wednesday in which he allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings of work in a no-decision. The left-hander had given up one or fewer runs in each of his previous four starts, winning each of those contests.
The Padres are projected to send Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 2.24 ERA) to the mound for Monday night’s matchup, with the right-hander coming off a stellar outing against the Rockies in which he allowed just six hits while striking out 11 batters in 7.2 shutout innings. Lamet faced the Dodgers back on August 4, allowing one earned run in 5.2 innings in a no-decision that day.
The Dodgers and Padres will meet again on Tuesday and Wednesday before Los Angeles continues its road trip with four games in Colorado against the Rockies to close out the week. The Dodgers then host the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Angels on next week’s schedule.
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