ODDS ANALYSIS
The most heated rivalry in baseball is renewed when the Giants and Dodgers hook up. San Francisco has had its way with the LA this season winning seven of the first nine games with the NL West’s top team. However six of those wins came at ATT Park where the Giants swept the Dodgers the last time the teams met blanking LA in all three games.
It’s a perplexing stat considering the Giants are a game under .500 in their park. SF has been a much better road team up 6.8 units on the moneyline following Thursday’s 7-0 win at Seattle.
The Dodgers enter the weekend in a little funk of their own avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers with a 1-0 win on Thursday. LA escaped scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a two out balk. Yes, the ever popular balk-off. The Dodgers have been held to two or fewer runs in seven of the nine games with the Giants but they scored 15 in the other two, both wins at Dodger Stadium, when they took two of three from the G-Men. The under is 6-3 in the season series but the teams cashed the over twice during the three-game set in LA in late April.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Tim Lincecum (7-3, 3.31 ERA) was good enough to win Tuesday, yielding two runs on five hits with four walks over 5.2 innings against the Mariners. He was clearly wild in the outing but still picked up his third win in his last five starts despite a 5.61 ERA. He’s 2-1 with a 4.88 ERA in 31.1 innings on the road and looks to improve on those numbers.
Lincecum is 2-1 in three starts against the Dodgers this season giving up one run over 13 innings of his two outings at ATT Park. He was battered for eight hits and four runs in a loss at Dodger Stadium on Apr. 27. He’s started 13 of his 14 games at Dodger Stadium going 5-6 with a 3.93 ERA.
Brett Anderson (2-4, 3.43 ERA) tossed eight strong innings Tuesday at Texas but settled for a no-decision after allowing two runs and eight hits. He’s been plagued by poor run support as the Dodgers have scored two runs or fewer in seven of his 13 starts. Anderson is looking for his first win since May 8.
Anderson has struggled against the Giants this season with a 0-2 record giving up 10 runs and 21 hits with a 6.00 ERA in 15 innings. He started opposite Lincecum on Apr. 27 and lasted just 4.2 innings with five hits and three runs against getting a ND in an 8-3 Dodgers win.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Any time we’re squaring off against the Dodgers it’s a big series. The teams battle it out every year for the division. It’s a rivalry that goes back so long. Regardless of the circumstances, the Dodgers series is always a big one for us. So it’ll be a lot of fun with a lot of energy.” – Giants’ pitcher Chris Heston
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
Matt Duffy has done a lot in his time with the Giants to impress Bruce Bochy enough that the manager had to elevate him in the batting order. Following through on his intentions, Bochy inserted Duffy in the fifth spot in the batting order Thursday, after he had hit in the seventh or eighth spot in 31 of 44 starts. But the rookie third baseman rarely resembled a bottom-of-the-order hitter. Duffy hit .389 in the previous six games to raise his average to .294. Batting fifth for the first time this season Duffy had a two-run triple in the eighth inning lifting the Giants to a 7-0 win at Seattle. “I feel like things happen in the middle of the order,” Duffy said.
PROP TALK
Brandon Crawford embodies what it means to be a Giant. He’s a solid player, not spectacular, and goes about his job without a lot of fanfare outside the Bay Area. Crawford was given the night off Thursday after going hitless in the two previous games but you can count on him being in the lineup for this one. Crawford enters the weekend with a .277 average and is a career .243 hitter against the Dodgers. However he feasts off Brett Anderson with five hits in six at-bats with two walks off the Dodgers’ lefty. Watch for him to be involved in any Giants’ uprising.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Giants catch a break in the series avoiding LA aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, but Brett Anderson has been a reliable member of LA’s rotation despite his record. The Giants are 7-2 against their neighbors from the south but six of those wins came at ATT Park. It’s been a different story in LA and the Dodgers have payback on their mind after getting shutout in three straight games in SF in mid-May. Anderson has been good at home and Tim Lincecum has not on the road. That adds up to a Dodgers victory.
Los Angeles 6, San Francisco 3
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 San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers is scheduled for Sunday, June 21, 2015, at 8:08 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium. The matchup can be seen live on ESPN.
