The Los Angeles Dodgers earned a series split against the San Francisco Giants at home to kick off the 2018 season after dropping the first two games, each by a final of 1-0. The Dodgers’ offense took a while to get cranking, but picked it up as the series progressed. Now, with a three-game series on tap between these teams in the second weekend of the season, there’s a chance for one of the clubs to break the tie in the season series.
First pitch for Game 1 of the three-game set between the Dodgers and Giants is scheduled for Friday, April 6, 2018, at 10:15 p.m. ET at AT&T Park. The next two games of the series will be day games at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be broadcast locally.
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Odds Analysis
The Dodgers and Giants have split four games so far this season after L.A. won the season series in 2017, 11-8.
Los Angeles averaged close to seven runs a game last season as the offense was just too much for an injury riddled pitching staff. The Giants rotation is in even worse shape in the early going of 2018 so it stands to reason the offense causes trouble again.
The Dodgers are without Justin Turner and got off to a slow start with the stick, getting shutout in the first two games, but L.A. combined for 21 runs over the next three games, a seven run per game average.
Can the Dodgers again take advantage of the backend of the Giants rotation? If so, can the Giants really keep up? San Fran won the first two games of the opening series scoring just two combined runs.
Joe Panik and Buster Posey are the only Giants hitting well right now with Panik having already belted three bombs and Posey posting a .368 OBP.
For the Dodgers though, Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes are both hitting well, but the team’s gotten little from anyone other than the tandem behind the plate.
Probable Pitchers
The Dodgers lost to the Giants with Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood on the mound, winning the games started by Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill.
While Los Angeles has the bottom portion of the rotation lined up for this Giant series, it could be a good thing considering the above.
Maeda is slated to get the ball in Friday’s series opener with Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu on tap for Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Maeda threw five innings against the Giants in his first start, giving up five hits and just a single walk. He struck out 10. The numbers were dominant, but he threw 90 pitches through five frames. He’ll be allowed to go a bit deeper this time out if he’s still dealing, but will also need to be more pitch efficient to go deeper in the game.
Maeda nabbed the win in the third game of the season much like Hill grabbed the victory in the fourth game, throwing six shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks. Rather than racking up the strikeouts, he was a bit more pitch efficient, inducing weak contact on the curve.
After winning Maeda and Hill’s starts, the Dodgers lost Ryu’s first start of the year.
The veteran southpaw out of Korea didn’t throw well, but the loss wasn’t entirely on him either.
The lefty lasted 3.2 innings, allowing three runs and five hits while walking five. The control issues prevented him from going any deeper in the game and kept the Diamondbacks on the base paths and the Dodgers on edge.
All in all, the three runs that he allowed weren’t crippling for the Dodgers though Pedro Baez helped get him out of a jam or the numbers could’ve been worse.
He’ll need to locate the ball better to find better results against the Giants. Over his career, he’s been a rather solid control artist with a 2.4 walk-per-nine-inning ratio. It’s been injuries that’ve been the biggest issue for him. He’s healthy now and following up a 3.77 ERA season last year.
In his career against the Giants, he’s just 4-6 in 12 starts, but does have a strong 3.38 ERA.
On the other side of the matchups, the Giants won’t be able to go to the two starters that shut out the Dodgers to start the series, though Ty Blach does seem in line to start Sunday on regular rest. Derek Holland and Chris Stratton are the expected starters for Friday and Saturday
Holland struggled his way through his first start as a Giant, allowing five runs—only three of them earned—in five innings to the Dodgers. He gave up just three hits in the game and none of them left the park, but he walked three to get into trouble and was unable to escape self-created jams.
The performance wasn’t promising, particularly after a terrible finish to 2017 that saw him pitch to a 7.17 ERA in 14 games. The lack of homers was promising, but the rest of the line was much the same.
As for Stratton, the results were a bit better. L.A. still got to him for three runs over five and a third innings, but Stratton avoided giving up free passes and kept the ball in the park. He’s coming off a promising showing in 13 games last year, too. He struggled with walks a year ago so his ability to keep the ball in the zone on Sunday was encouraging.
As for Sunday’s starter, Blach was the default Opening Day starter and outpitched Kershaw, going five shutout innings with just three hits allowed though he did walk three more.
He, however, didn’t follow that up well, giving up 10 hits and six runs, all earned, to the Seattle Mariners in his second start. His stuff flattened out in the home opener and he wasn’t able to pitch to his spots, instead missing out over the plate.
Blach is all about location and movement. The two played in his favor against the Dodgers, not so versus Seattle.
Overall, the names are better for the Dodgers even if Blach shut out the men in Blue last time around. His latest outing is more indicative of his skill set. With the rotation injured, the Giants have pieced together a collection of arms that are more No.5 starters than anything else. While the Giants match up against the backend of the Dodgers’ rotation, the L.A. arms are better, mid-rotation type starters.
Live Betting
Something is up with Kenly Jansen right now. He’s made two appearances this season and already has a loss and a blown save. He’s allowed two home runs and has given up four runs in two innings, walking two and not striking out a single batter.
Jansen’s velocity is down and he’s not getting the swing and miss. He’s the best reliever in the game when he’s on, but he’s not on right now. After a 15.57 strikeout rate last year, he’s yet to get his first K which in itself is telling.
When the Dodgers are on, they have the ninth inning locked down. That’s not the case right now and the bridge to get to him is a question, too.
Looking to find the replacement for Brandon Morrow, Scott Alexander has been wild in three games with five walks over 2.1 innings. Pedro Baez has been scoreless, but wild, too.
On the other side, the Giants’ bullpen did well to hold the Dodgers’ offense down in the first two games of the season. Hunter Strickland and Tony Watson have looked great thus far. Josh Osich and Roberto Gomez are the only two relievers to give up any runs. Sam Dyson has even looked pretty good to start the year.
MLB Pick
The Dodgers are the better team. They’ll have the better record at season’s end and will have the better head-to-head record against the Giants come September.
That said, look for the Giants to at least win one of these games given the series is at home. The Dodgers will have the advantage to start the game given the superior rotation alignment, but San Francisco’s pen can help bail the starters out while the Dodgers’ pen is beatable until Jansen figures things out again.
Look for the Giants to win at least one of these games at home. Still, the Dodgers are likely to take the series. They have the better starters and they have the better offense. When Jansen is on, they have the better bullpen, too.
For now, the Giants close the gap some in the pen, but the Dodgers should have a large enough lead in a couple games to close it out.
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