ODDS ANALYSIS
After completing a 4-2 homestand with a pair of wins over Milwaukee, the Atlanta Braves make their first trip west with the second game of a 10-game road trip. The Braves have been a pleasant surprise through the first quarter of the season playing .500 baseball in the black 3.39 units on the moneyline. Atlanta enters the series with a 10-11 road record following a three-game sweep at Miami to end a 4-5 nine-game trip from May 8-17. The Braves are a strong play on the over at 25-16-2 and the over is 7-2 in Julio Teheran’s nine starts.
The Dodgers took two of three from San Diego over the weekend and remain unbeaten in its past 12 home series dating back to last season. LA has struggled to score recently plating just nine runs with three scored Sunday being the most in an eight-game stretch with the under going 6-2. Overall the Dodgers have been a solid play on the over at 24-17-2 and 17-7-1 at home entering the week but given their recent woes and with Clayton Kershaw on the hill, the under looks like the smart play.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Julio Teheran (4-1, 3.91 ERA) pitched a season-high seven innings Thursday, holding the Brewers to one and two hits with eight strikeouts in a 10-1 win. Since struggling in his final three April starts, Teheran has allowed one run or fewer in three of his past four turns.
Teheran is 0-2 with a 4.11 ERA in two career starts against the Dodges. He tossed an eight-inning complete game in his only Dodger Stadium appearance giving up five hits and three runs with nine strikeouts.
Clayton Kershaw (2-3, 4.32 ERA) struggled again in Thursday’s loss to the Giants allowing four runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings as he continues to work back to his Cy Young form of 2014. His three losses this season match his total from all of last season.
Kershaw has five lifetime starts against the Braves with a 1-0 record and 2.11 ERA with 44 strikeouts over 38.1 innings. Atlanta hitters are a combined .151 against him.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“I’ve been working to get back on track, trying to get my fastball, trying to get all my pitches for strikes and that something that will get some wins for us. It’s about getting ahead in counts, throwing the fastball for a strike and making them swing. That’s something I wasn’t doing before.” – Braves pitcher Julio Teheran
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
Teams go through streaks – good and bad – during the course of a long season and the Dodgers had a horrible scoring drought that included a team record tying 35 scoreless innings. LA plated three runs Sunday, the most they scored in an eight-game stretch, and still managed to pull out three wins over that time to maintain its first place standing in the NL West. It’s been tough for the Dodgers but puzzling since they average 4.5 runs a game with a team average near .260. Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford are both another week or so away from returning but there are major league hitters in the lineup and they will have an outbreak against the Braves.
PROP TALK
Adrian Gonzalez hasn’t had many opportunities to drive in runs during the Dodgers’ current scoring funk. Actually few on the team have been presented many chances. Gonzalez leads LA in RBIs and went without an extra-base hit or RBI during the team’s eight-game stretch where the Dodgers totaled just nine runs ending with an outburst Sunday in an 11-3 loss to San Diego. The Dodgers are a much better offensive team than they’ve shown and Gonzalez always seems to be in the middle of any offensive exploits. Gonzalez has a lifetime .429 average against Julio Teheran and leads the Dodgers outbreak with a few extra-base hits and RBIs.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Braves aren’t flashy, they don’t have any big names on their roster but they have been competitive all season and that’s just fine with them. They have had the luxury of playing the Marlins and Phillies a number of times but they still have to win the games and the Braves have won their share, enough to keep them in front of those two in the NL East. The Braves are 6-3 in nine Julio Teheran starts and they’ve scored five or more runs in each of the last five while reaching double-figures twice. That makes it easy to have a winning record with an ERA around four.
The drought in California has reached the Dodgers with their offense as dry as the state’s watering holes. The Dodgers tied a team record for consecutive scoreless innings that included three straight shutouts at San Francisco last week and their three runs scored Sunday were the most in their last eight games. They sure miss Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford and if not for Zach Greinke who knows where this team is. LA snaps out against Teheran and Clayton Kershaw starts to look like Clayton Kershaw.
Los Angeles 5, Atlanta 1
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, 2015, at 10:10 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium. The matchup can be seen live on ESPN.
