Visiting Dodgers Heavy Favorites to Take Game 1 of Series in Pittsburgh
Who: Los Angeles Dodgers v. Pittsburgh Pirates
When: Monday August 21st, 2017 7:05 PM EST
Where: PNC Park—Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Dodgers will travel to Pittsburgh on Monday to kick off a 4-game series with a Pirates team that has been struggling of late. Though they ended up losing on Sunday, the Dodgers are as good now as they have been all year long. For the Pirates, an opponent like the Dodgers could not have come at a more inopportune time. At the present moment, the Pirates’ hopes of making the playoffs seem to be dealt blow after blow in recent weeks. Being that the Dodgers are one of the best teams in MLB, Pittsburgh will be really up against it.
As for their immediately recent endeavors, things have not been too terrible for the Pirates. Having just hosted the Cardinals for a 4-game series where the Pirates won 2 and lost 2, it might seem like they are continuing to struggle, but such might not be the case. While they were on a 6-game losing streak throughout the entirety of last week, the Buccos managed to turn things around during the final 2 games against the Cardinals, one of which was played at a neutral site located in close proximity to the ongoing Little League World Series. To make a long story short, if the Pirates do not play significantly better baseball against the Dodgers, I would be surprised if they won more than a single game.
The 2017 Dodgers are not a team accustomed to losing games. In fact, prior to their Sunday loss at the hands of Detroit the Dodgers had won 6 consecutive games. Now at an even 20 games, the Dodgers have a more than commanding lead of the NL West, so regardless of what happens in Pittsburgh it is safe to say that they will be making a post-season appearance. The loss on Sunday will leave a sour taste in LA’s mouth, so you can expect them to be chomping at the bit to get revenge.
Game Overview and Analysis
The one thing about this series opener is the fact that we are going to be seeing a lot of pitching talent. For the visiting Dodgers (-149) it will be star pitcher Alex Wood (14-1 2.30 ERA) who will be making the start. Wood, who will be hoping to earn his 15th victory on Monday evening, is perhaps the best pitcher in baseball and is looking to make sure there is no doubt about that. In his last 10 starts, Wood has gained an 8-1 record while giving up very few runs in the process. In fact, over that 10-game span Woods gave up more than 2 runs on only 2 occasions; a truly remarkable feat.
If the Dodgers bats can have even an average night, I think they will have absolutely no troubles taking care of the Pirates in this one. Furthermore, the Dodgers have lost only 3 of their last 11 road games, so the fact that they will be playing at PNC Park is likely to be more of a non-factor than anything else.
For the Pirates (+129) we will see Gerrit Cole (10-8 4.04 ERA) take the mound. Cole has by no means been as dominant as Wood, but he is one of the bright spots of an otherwise inconsistent Pirates starting rotation. Cole’s last win came 11 days ago in Detroit, but like most of his wins that game saw him give up a few earned runs; 3 to be exact. He followed up that start with a no-decision outing that saw him give up 4 earned. While there is no way to say for certain whether this is the beginning of a trend or not, I think he will find it tough to keep runs off the board vs. LA.
Betting Prediction
As far as an outright, moneyline winner in this contest is concerned, I think you have to go with the Dodgers (-149). Not only is this team starting arguably their best pitcher, they are also not very prone to losing back-to-back games. You would have to do a lot of looking at their schedule to find more than a handful of occasions where this year’s Dodgers team dropped more than 2 games at a time.
Being that both of these pitchers are talented, I like the over/under as offered by Bovada. Officially, the over/under is listed at an even 8 runs (-110/-110), and I think the best bet in this scenario is the under (-110). Wood does not give up many runs, and if Cole has even a decent outing on the mound I think the run tally will be kept down.
Finally, I would go with the Dodgers’ point spread, which sees them listed as -1.5 run favorites (+110). I simply think the Dodgers are going to win this one easily, and when you consider the Pittsburgh offense often has trouble getting going, I think this is the best bet to make.