The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds will open up a four game series on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The Reds find themselves in last place in the NL Central while the Dodgers are currently stuck in 4th place in the NL West. Both teams have had a disappointing start to the 2018 MLB season.
The Cincinnati Reds were expecting this to be a rebuilding season for them, but club has been worse than expected. The Dodgers came into this season as the favorites in the National League, but find themselves well off the pace in the NL West. The Dodgers are -192 over the Reds in game 1 of this series.
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Dodgers Hoping the Bats Wake Up
The Dodgers offense got off to a slow start this season, and things got worse with the loss of Corey Seager. The Dodgers currently rank as the 16th best team in the MLB in batting average and are 13th in runs. Both of these rankings fall well short of where the Dodgers were predicted to finish.
Dodgers’ rookie, Walker Buehler will be starting the series opener for the Dodgers. The right hander is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA through his first 3 starts. In his last game Buehler pitched the first 6 scoreless innings in a combined no-hitter for the Dodgers. Buehler will look to repeat his last performance against a struggling Reds team.
Reds’ Pitching Woes Continue
The struggles of the Cincinnati Reds, begin with the pitching staff. The Reds team ERA sits at 5.17 overall, which ranks as the 3rd worst in all of baseball. One of the bright spots for the Reds has been rookie, Tyler Mahle. Mahle is currently 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA through his first 7 starts of 2018. The rookie right hander will start the series opener against the Dodgers.
Offensively, the Reds have a very balanced attack. Eugenio Suarez has had a solid start to the year batting .325 and has drove in a team high 25 runs. Joey Votto continues to get on base at a very high rate and currently has a .404 on base percentage. The Reds will score their fair share of runs this year, but their pitchers are quick to give the runs right back.
Dodgers Score Enough Runs to Win
The Dodgers haven’t been able to get things going this year, but playing the Reds might be the spark they need. The Reds’ pitching staff is bad, and the Dodgers lineup should be able to take advantage. The Dodgers desperately need to take 3 out of 4 against the Reds, and need to get off to a good start in game 1.
The Reds will try to solve Dodgers pitcher, Walker Buehler. Buehler has been extremely sharp of late, but the veteran Reds lineup will make it tough on the righty. Look for the Reds to put some pressure on Buehler, but the talented starter will escape with minimal damage. The Dodgers offense will finally breakthrough and the Dodgers will take game 1. Bet the Los Angeles Dodgers -192 over the Cincinnati Reds.
- Bet the Los Angeles Dodgers -192
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- Bet on the Cincinnati Reds +172
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