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Giants Visit Dodgers, Look To Stay Alive

Alex H. MLB News
Madison Bumgarner will look to lead the Giants to victory over their NL West rivals.

Madison Bumgarner will look to lead the Giants to victory over their NL West rivals.

The San Francisco Giants will look to keep their division title hopes alive Tuesday night as the team meets the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle game of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium.

First pitch at Chavez Ravine is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET.

20140922_NL_WestWith the Milwaukee Brewers fading, San Francisco (85-71, 43-36 road) is a lock for a postseason berth. In fact, a win on Tuesday coupled with a Milwaukee loss will see Bruce Bochy’s side into October.

But right now the Giants still have a shot at a division title, and aren’t about to let up until that’s out of reach.

Los Angeles (89-68, 40-36 home) owns a 3.5-game lead over the Giants at the top of the NL West, and will be looking to move one step closer to securing a second straight division crown – not to mention a No. 1 berth – when the two sides collide on Tuesday.

Monday’s series opener finished in favor of the Giants, who scored three in the 13th inning to break a 2-2 tie and earn a sixth win at Dodger Stadium this season. Another win on Tuesday will really set this race up nicely.

Pitching matchup

Expect Tuesday’s game to be a pitching duel as two of the National League’s best pitchers go head-to-head.

Zack Greinke (15-8, 2.76 ERA) will start for the Dodgers. The right-hander will be looking to record a fifth win over the Giants this season. His 1.38 ERA in the season series is enough to send chills down the backs of San Francisco’s batters.

  • Greinke is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 6 career games (6 starts) vs. San Francisco
  • Greinke is 17-4 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 career games (28 starts) at Dodger Stadium
  • Greinke is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 4 games (4 starts) vs. San Francisco this season
  • Greinke is 8-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 13 games (13 starts) at Dodger Stadium this season

The Giants will counter with Madison Bumgarner (18-9, 2.91 ERA).

Bumgarner is equally as likely to send chills down the back of Dodgers batters. The left-hander has incredible numbers in his career against the Dodgers, and has posted a 1.75 ERA in four games against the club this season. He’ll be looking for his fourth win in the season series.

  • Bumgarner is 11-4 with a 2.36 ERA in 16 career games (15 starts) vs. Los Angeles
  • Bumgarner is 7-2 with a 1.87 ERA in 10 career games (9 starts) at Dodger Stadium
  • Bumgarner is 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 4 games (4 starts) vs. Los Angeles this season
  • Bumgarner is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 2 games (2 starts) at Dodger Stadium this season

Injury report

Giants’ outfielder Michael Morse is listed as day-to-day with an oblique injury. Outside of that, both clubs enter the game with no new injury worries.

Zack Greinke will look to continue his dominance over the Giants on Tuesday.

Zack Greinke will look to continue his dominance over the Giants on Tuesday.

Betting report

Below you’ll find significant trends and observations relating to this matchup.

San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers odds for 09/23/2014

Los Angeles (-127) opened as the favorite over San Francisco (+117) on the moneyline.

At the time of writing, TopBet had the Dodgers at -140 and the Giants at +130.

San Francisco owns a 9-8 advantage in the head-to-head series this season. Monday night’s extra innings win saw the Giants move to 6-2 on the season when playing at Dodger Stadium, a trend well worth keeping in mind.

Some other trends to consider:

  • San Francisco is 48-47 in night games
  • Los Angeles is 67-46 in night games
  • San Francisco is 37-33  vs. NL West opponents
  • Los Angeles is 45-26 vs. NL West opponents
  • San Francisco is 57-42 vs. right-handed pitching
  • Los Angeles is 25-16 vs. left-handed pitching
  • San Francisco is 32-28 since the All-Star break
  • Los Angeles is 35-25 since the All-Star break
  • San Francisco is 10-9 since September 1
  • Los Angeles is 12-8 since September 1

In a game that looks to all intents and purposes to be a pitching duel, the total opened at 6, where it remains.

The previous two games between the sides have finished with a push, while five of the seven before that finished with the over paying out. The under is the smart bet on Tuesday though.

*****

Following Tuesday’s game, the Giants and Dodgers will close out their regular season head-to-head schedule on Wednesday night (10:00 p.m. ET).

San Francisco will then return home for a four-game set with the San Diego Padres (Thu-Sun) to conclude the regular season.

Los Angeles will host the Colorado Rockies for three games (Fri-Sun), looking to secure the NL West title in the process.

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For a full list of today’s Major League Baseball odds, click here.

For MLB Futures odds, courtesy of Bovada, click here.

For team prop bets, click here.

For player prop bets, click here.

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