Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
Outside of a World Series championship, there is another goal the Los Angeles Dodgers (103-56) will be looking to achieve before the playoffs get underway next week. The Dodgers are still chasing the Houston Astros for the best record in baseball and home-field advantage throughout the postseason, which could end up being huge if they meet again in the World Series come October.
But first, Los Angeles will open a three-game set against the San Francisco Giants (77-82) as -180 road favorites (bet $180 to win $100) on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for Friday’s opener.
Dodgers at Giants | OddsShark Matchup Report
The Dodgers will hand the ball to Walker Buehler (13-4, 3.25 ERA) in this key spot opposite Johnny Cueto (1-1, 2.57 ERA) for the Giants, who are listed as +165 home underdogs (bet $100 to win $165) at sports betting sites. While Buehler has been a mainstay in his second full season for Los Angeles, Cueto has recently returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched fairly well for San Francisco in three September starts.
After failing to allow a run in each of his first two outings, Cueto did surrender four runs and two hits in four innings of an 8-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday to suffer his first defeat of 2019.
Buehler too is coming off a setback in which he gave up four runs and five hits to the Colorado Rockies in six innings of a 4-2 home loss on Saturday. That was his first loss at Dodger Stadium this year, dropping him to 6-1 with a 2.86 ERA there.
He is also 2-0 versus the Giants this season with a 2.19 ERA and has never lost to them.
Los Angeles has won six of the previous nine meetings with San Francisco, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, with four of the past six finishing OVER the total. However, the Giants took two of three at Chavez Ravine earlier this month with the UNDER cashing in the last two. San Francisco will be looking to play the role of spoiler knowing a series win will most likely keep the team’s biggest rival from reaching its goal.
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