ODDS ANALYSIS
As good as the Dodgers are they’ve had their problems this season in San Francisco, losing for the fifth straight time at ATT Park with a shutout loss Wednesday. They were blanked for the second straight night and have scored just six runs in the five games. The under is 3-0 in LA’s last three games and cashed in each of the last four games between these clubs in SF. Los Angeles is in the red 6.17 units on the moneyline in their five games at ATT Park but in the black 1.86 units on the season. The over is 23-14-2 in LA’s 39 games but just 7-9-1 on the road and facing Madison Bumgarner makes the under a smart play.
The Giants are in one of those streaks where everything seems to go right. They’ve won five straight for the second time this month and have the Dodgers number at ATT Park. SF has won all five against LA this season up 5.7 units on the moneyline and is 12-3 in its last 15 home games. For the season the Giants are up 3.16 units on the moneyline and 3.61 units on the runline while the under is 15-7 on the year and 3-0 in the last three games at ATT Park.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LA’s Clayton Kershaw (2-2, 4.24 ERA) earned his 100th career victory after allowing three runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings Friday against Colorado. He tossed six scoreless frames and the bullpen rescued him after a four-run seventh brought the Rockies closer.
Kershaw will face Bumgarner and the Giants for the third time this season. He’s pitched well allowing two runs in each of his two previous outings covering 13 innings but has a loss and ND to show for it. Kershaw is 8-2 with a 0.97 ERA at ATT Park, where the Giants have hit .172 against him.
Madison Bumgarner (4-2, 3.20 ERA) passed 1,000 innings in his career during his most recent start, a 10-2 win at Cincinnati where he gave up eight hits and two runs on a pair of solo homers in seven innings and sports a 2.14 ERA over his last five starts.
Bumgarner has also pitched well in two earlier meetings with the Dodgers picking up a win in two one-run SF wins. He tossed eight innings of one-run ball with five hits and nine strikeouts, outdueling Kershaw in a 2-1 win on Apr. 28. MadBum has 12 career victories over the Dodgers, his most against any club, with a 2.46 ERA in 18 starts.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“I think the only thing is I feel an obligation to this team and organization and everybody to pitch well. I feel like they put a pretty huge investment in me to do that. That’s really the only thing I feel. I feel somewhat bad at times, but I’m trying. Hopefully tonight gets us back going.” – Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said Friday after winning his 100th career game
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
Don’t expect a lot of runs to be scored in this one with a pair of aces facing each other for the third time this season. The Dodgers haven’t scored much in SF this season and it won’t be any easier against Madison Bumgarner, who’s allowed just three runs on 11 hits in 14.1 innings against them in two earlier starts. The Giants are a poor run-producing team as it is and facing Clayton Kershaw is not an easy task. Kershaw has given up four runs in 13 innings with 17 strikeouts to the Giants. In other words, this is an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel that’ll come down to the work of the bullpens and with Kenley Jansen back in his closer’s role for the Dodgers, they get the edge.
PROP TALK
Buster Posey has hit safely in 12 straight games and 19 of 20 to put the Giants on the heels of the Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West by winning 14 of the 20 games. Posey is hitting .341 during his 12-game stretch and has raised his average from .234 to .308 since Apr. 25. Posey has at least one hit in each of the eight season meetings with the Dodgers hitting .400 and had three hits Wednesday, including his seventh home run. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw hasn’t allowed much to the Giants over his career but Posey is key for SF to get a win off the Cy Young and MVP winner.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Dodgers may be the favorite to win the NL West but the defending champion Giants aren’t going to make it easy. If LA wants its third straight division crown winning in ATT Park would help. It’s been tough with losses in the first five games but LA has its ace Clayton Kershaw, who’s owned the Giants during his career, on the hill and they finally get a victory.
Pitching has keyed the Giants resurgence moving them right behind the Dodgers in the division and they counter with their ace Madison Bumgarner Thursday, who’ll be head-to-head with Kershaw for the third time already this season. Pitching has been a staple of the Giants championship runs and they will need to continue because offensively, though the team average is good, they rank near the bottom in runs scored. SF struggles with runners in scoring position and has left numerous runners on base. Those areas don’t improve against Kershaw.
Los Angeles 4, San Francisco 1
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