Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (44-27) and San Diego Padres (42-32) are both still chasing the San Francisco Giants (46-26) for first place in the National League West standings heading into a key three-game series between starting on Monday night at Petco Park.
The Dodgers are coming off a three-game sweep of the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks while the Padres are riding a four-game winning streak and enter the series opener as -120 home favorites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com with Yu Darvish on the hill (how the moneyline works).
Dodgers vs. Padres | OddsShark Matchup Report
Los Angeles is a surprising underdog in this situation, just the second time this season the defending World Series champions have been in this role. In fact, you have to go back to April 30 against the Milwaukee Brewers to find the only other time the Dodgers have been listed as underdogs at online betting sites this year, and they are hoping that Julio Urias (9-2, 3.54 ERA) can get the job done opposite Darvish (6-2, 2.57 ERA) in the opener.
San Diego has lost the last two times that Darvish has toed the rubber after winning 11 of his first 12 starts, and he has given up a combined six runs and nine hits in 12 innings over his past couple outings.
Meanwhile, Urias has seen Los Angeles win in each of his previous three trips to the mound despite failing to go more than six innings in any of them. They have scored 20 runs in those three games too, which has certainly helped him earn two wins during that stretch.
The second game of the series looks to pit Clayton Kershaw (8-6, 3.36 ERA) of the Dodgers against Blake Snell (2-3, 5.72 ERA) of the Padres on Tuesday before Trevor Bauer (7-5, 2.45 ERA) is expected to battle Joe Musgrove (4-6, 2.28 ERA) in the series finale. San Diego has yet to finalize Snell and Musgrove as definite starters for the last two games though, so make sure to check for updates.
The Padres have had an edge lately in this matchup, winning four of the past five meetings since a seven-game series skid. The OVER has also cashed in the last three games between the teams following a 3-0 UNDER run, which immediately followed a 3-0 OVER run.
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