It’s time to look to the west again. Last season, the National League West was the most exciting division in baseball, featuring the Giants and Dodgers battling for the division crown and the title of the best record in baseball.
On Tuesday, San Francisco and Los Angeles meet for the first time this season in a Dodger Stadium showdown. Both teams are coming off of rough weeks and looking to turn things around. Here is all you need to know for your MLB picks.
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Tuesday, May 03, 2022 – 10:10 PM EDT at Dodger Stadium
Los Angeles is currently in first place by percentage points over the Padres, while the Giants are a half-game back. If the season ended today, all three teams would be in the playoffs.
The Dodgers and Giants arrive at the showdown after a rough week, however. Both teams have lost three of their last five. Los Angeles dropped a series at last-place Arizona, then needed to win Sunday’s rubber game against Detroit to avoid losing to another last-place team.
“The last week I don’t think we’ve played really good baseball,” said manager Dave Roberts.
The Giants haven’t been much better. They lost to another last-place team, dropping two of three to Washington at home. That came off the heels of splitting two games at home against sub-.500 Oakland.
Who Is Playing for the Giants?
The Giants could be getting back some key players for the series, and possibly even as early as Tuesday’s opening game against the Dodgers.
Mike Yastrzemski has been out for more than a week after testing positive for COVID-19. Over the weekend, he was able to leave quarantine and return to San Francisco, a sign that he is close to rejoining the team.
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LaMonte Wade Jr., out for three weeks with a knee injury, did well in a minor league rehab game on Saturday, when he went 9 full innings in the field. That led Giants manager Gabe Kapler to say that the team would have a discussion to see if Wade was ready, even though the original plan was to have him stay in the minors a little longer.
Joc Pederson, who has been battling a Grade 1 abductor strain, has avoided the injured list and is “day-to-day,” according to Kapler.
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“As soon as Joc’s available to hit off the bench, we’re going to have him available to hit off the bench. And we will kind of assess it day-to-day,” he said.
The Giants will start lefthander Carlos Rodon on Tuesday. Rodon has turned into one of the biggest offseason acquisitions this year, starting the season 3-0, with a 1.17 ERA and looking like the dominant pitcher he was before injuries plagued the end of his White Sox career.
Who Is Playing for the Dodgers?
After both teams won 106 games last season—a first for divisional rivals—the Dodgers are on pace to win 108 this year, the Giants 103. Los Angeles leads all of baseball in fewest runs allowed while the Giants are in seventh place. Dodgers pitchers have a MLB best 2.33 ERA, and the starters are even better, at 2.01.
The two teams are one-two in runs scored, with Los Angeles just slightly behind.
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Freddie Freeman leads the team in OPS, and Mookie Betts has been hot over the last week and a half, hitting .337 with three homers in the last 10 games. Cody Bellinger has also looked reborn at the plate after a season-long slump last year. He set a record for futility against the Giants last year, going 2-for-48, so he’ll be looking to get some revenge in this series.
The Dodgers will start Julio Urias on Tuesday. The southpaw is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA on the year.
The Picks
Last year, the Giants always seemed to have an answer when the Dodgers were ready to catch and/or pass them in the standings or in their postseason matchup. This year, Los Angeles has had the edge in the first month and will be looking to make a statement against its rival.
Following the MLB odds, look for the Dodgers to get a series-opening win in a high-scoring affair.
MLB Pick: Dodgers ML (-135) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
MLB Pick: Over 6.5 Runs (-120) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
