The Los Angeles Dodgers and the suddenly slumping and inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies clash in the first of a critical three-game set starting Monday night inside historic Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, California. This is an exciting series between two teams that feel they are the best in baseball. They toss out the first pitch at 10:10 p.m. on the West Coast.
Bookmaker has installed the Dodgers - 136 on the ML in the opener.
The Dodgers have set out to show the rest of the National League and baseball that they are the deepest and most complete team in the majors. They have the talent on their roster and in their lineup to compete with any team in the NL, and they can also outslug many teams, including the free-falling Phillies.
But the Dodgers know they will be tested in October, and anything less than a World Series berth and the season would be considered a disappointment to their players, front office, and loyal fanbase. They have one of the most productive offenses in baseball and look for them to try to attack Philadelphia's pitching in the early innings.
On offense, they are led by perennial NL MVP candidate DH Shohei Ohtani, who has cracked a team-high 33 home runs while hitting .309. The Dodgers will toss out veteran Tyler Glasnow, who sports a mark of 8-6 in his first season with Los Angeles. He will also take his 3.50 ERA on the hill when he takes the ball.
The Phillies have suddenly become a bad baseball team. They are in the midst of a horrible slump that they appear to not be getting out of anytime soon. There are a ton of reasons why this team is slumping, from the lineup to the starting pitching, and also some blame that has been put on the manager.
The Phillies lead in the NL East has shrunk to 5 1/2 games over the surging Atlanta Braves and just seven over their rival New York Mets.
The club's best players have not produced over the last month or so, and that has contributed to their slide big-time. They need the heart of the lineup to wake up and get their All-Stars going again. Veteran Bryce Harper has really cooled off, and he needs to get going. Entering Sunday's action against Seattle, he has not hit a home run in six games and has been striking out a lot again.
He was finally able to slug a homer early on in that game. The Phillies will hand the ball over to Aaron Nola in hopes of the veteran hurler stopping the bleeding and this slump. He has gone 11-4 this season with the Phillies, with an ERA of 3.43. He has fanned 130 hitters in 136.1 innings of work.
The Dodgers are 2-3 in their last five games and 2-3 in their previous five games against the number, and they are also 28-28 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in four out of their last five games and 30 out of their last 53 games at home. The Phillies are 0-5 in their previous five games and 1-4 in their last five games against the spread. They are 24-27 in their road games against the number too. The totals have gone over in five out of their last five games, too.
