Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (51-25) remain the only MLB team with at least 50 wins, and they hope to add three more this weekend between Friday and Sunday when they host the Colorado Rockies (40-34) in a matchup between the top two squads in the National League West.
Behind NL Cy Young Award candidate Walker Buehler on Friday, the Dodgers are listed as consensus -185 home favorites (bet $185 to win $100) on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com against German Marquez and the Rockies.
Rockies at Dodgers | OddsShark Matchup Report
Many can argue that Buehler (7-1, 3.06 ERA) has been the second-best starting pitcher for Los Angeles this season behind only Cy Young favorite Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-1, 1.26 ERA). Of course three-time Cy Young winner and one-time NL MVP Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 2.85 ERA) is also in the conversation, but you can see simply by looking at the numbers of all three why the Dodgers are the favorites to win their third straight NL pennant this season.
The Dodgers won three in a row from the San Francisco Giants after losing the series opener and will have Ryu ready to roll for Saturday’s nationally televised game at Chavez Ravine.
Colorado is coming off a three-game road sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks that was completed on Thursday with a 6-4 victory in 10 innings, but the team will be looking to end an eight-game series losing streak versus Los Angeles here.
Fortunately for the Rockies, Marquez (7-3, 4.57 ERA) has performed better on the road this year with a 3-2 record and 3.33 ERA in seven starts away from home, limiting the hitters to a .187 batting average.
Unfortunately for Colorado, they will be without shortstop Trevor Story (.294 BA with 17 home runs and 48 RBI), who sprained his right thumb on Wednesday.
This may be a lower-scoring series than bettors might expect based on the pitching matchups, bucking a recent trend between the teams that saw the OVER cash twice at online betting sites in three games at Coors Field between April 5 and 7, with Los Angeles outscoring Colorado 29-14 in a sweep.
The UNDER has gone 2-0-1 in the previous three meetings at Dodger Stadium, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, and it was on a 7-2-1 run overall too before their only series this season in April.
Ryu will square off against Peter Lambert (2-0, 6.00 ERA) and the Rockies on Saturday while his teammate Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.87 ERA) closes the series Sunday opposite Antonio Senzatela (6-5, 5.09 ERA).
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