One of the best rivalries in baseball will resume on Thursday night in Los Angeles, and this series will have plenty of meaning. The Los Angeles Dodgers host the San Francisco Giants for the first of four games, and this series will have an effect on the standings in the National League West.
San Francisco comes into this series with a record of 30-19, and they have been one of the best stories in the National League. The Giants are in a second-place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West, but holding on to that position is going to be a challenge.
This was not a good start to the season for the Dodgers, but this team has turned things around in a hurry. Los Angeles had its eight-game winning streak snapped in the previous game, but the Dodgers still come into this series with a ton of momentum.
The Dodgers will likely be the favorites in all four games of this series.
Giants at Dodgers Preview and Pick: Wood Getting it Done For Giants
The San Francisco Giants will send Alex Wood to the mound on Thursday night, and that could give them a real advantage. Wood has gone 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA to begin the year, and he has shut down some terrific lineups this season.
San Francisco will need Wood to be great on Thursday night as they don’t have the type of offense that can beat the Dodgers. The Giants have been better than expected, but this will be a tough test at Dodger Stadium.
The Giants are hitting just .230 as a team, and that is going to need to improve as the season moves along. This is a veteran lineup that has shown the ability to win games in a variety of ways.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford leads the way with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs, but he is going to need some help Thursday night.
Giants at Dodgers Preview and Pick: Dodgers Tough on Pitchers
The Los Angeles Dodgers have not had any trouble scoring runs this season, especially in the last few weeks. Los Angeles has scored 254 runs this season, which is the third highest total in baseball.
Max Muncy has been the biggest offensive star for the Dodgers this season, but he has plenty of help in the middle of that lineup. Muncy leads the way with 10 home runs and 26 runs batted in, and he has been tough to get out.
The Dodgers have a team ERA under 3.00, and they have gotten terrific work from the starting rotation all season long. Los Angeles has a bit of a question mark in terms of the starting pitcher for this matchup, but they have enough arms to cover this spot.
Los Angeles looked like a team suffering from a World Series hangover to begin the season, but this team is rolling coming into this series.
Giants at Dodgers Preview and Pick
There is no love lost between the Giants and Dodgers, and this is going to be an intense series. Expect most of the games this weekend to be decided by one run or less, but that won’t be the case on Thursday night.
The offense for Los Angeles is red-hot at this time, and that will help them break up the great start for Alex Wood. San Francisco continues to struggle to score, and that’s going to play a role in this game.
The Dodgers want to make a statement in this series, and they get started off on the right foot in this one. Bet the Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 over the San Francisco Giants in the series opener on Thursday night.
Final Score: Dodgers 6 – Giants 3
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