Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (57-29) have little to worry about in terms of the postseason race heading into this week’s National League West series with the Arizona Diamondbacks (43-43), who currently reside in fourth place in the division.
The Diamondbacks have the fourth-best run differential in the NL at plus-43 yet they sit behind the Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres in the standings. Arizona is a consensus +200 road underdog (bet $100 to win $200) for the series opener of a quick two-game set at Los Angeles starting on Tuesday via sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Diamondbacks at Dodgers | OddsShark Matchup Report
The Dodgers are listed as -220 home favorites (bet $220 to win $100), and they also own a 12-game division lead with the best record in baseball. In addition, they have won the NL West six consecutive years and the NL pennant each of the previous two, so this is obviously a World Series or bust team.
The same cannot be said of the Diamondbacks, who have been to the postseason only once in the past seven seasons and were swept by the Dodgers in the 2017 NLDS. Arizona is two games back of a Wild Card spot.
The Diamondbacks just split four games with the San Francisco Giants on the road, but they have still been better away from home overall with a 26-21 mark. Arizona has won three of the past four meetings with Los Angeles, following a four-game series losing streak, according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
The Diamondbacks send 26-year-old righty Taylor Clarke (2-3, 6.10 ERA) to the hill on Tuesday off one of his best starts of the year. Clarke earned his second win after allowing two runs and three hits in five innings of an 8-2 home victory versus the Dodgers last Wednesday.
Opposing Clarke for Los Angeles will be Ross Stripling (3-2, 3.08 ERA), who is making his eighth start and appearing for the 22nd time overall this year. Primarily used as a reliever, Stripling pitched three innings at Arizona last Tuesday in a 3-2 road win, giving up two runs (one earned) and four hits in three innings of work.
The UNDER has gone 4-1-1 in the last six games between the teams at sports betting sites after a 5-0 OVER run.
In Wednesday’s pitching matchup, second-year star Walker Buehler (8-1, 3.43 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Dodgers opposite Merrill Kelly (7-8, 4.00 ERA) of the Diamondbacks. Buehler is coming off a rough outing at Coors Field last Thursday, surrendering seven runs and 13 hits in 5.2 innings of an eventual 12-8 road victory against the Rockies. Meanwhile, Kelly has allowed three runs or less in each of his previous two outings.
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.
