Giants vs Dodgers Predictions, Odds, Picks

• Battle of the lefties
• These offenses struggle when they don’t face lefties
• X-factors to watch

Giants vs Dodgers Odds

San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction and Picks

It’s been one of the best rivalries in all of baseball and now that both teams are competing for the division title for the second season in a row, it once again has some juice. It’s the first of 19 meetings between these California rivals and while both are consistent winners, this lines up for the Dodgers. L.A. is 47-14 in its last 61 home games while the Giants are just 4-9 in the last 13 games that were projected to be this low scoring.

Dodgers moneyline

Under 6.5

Garcia’s 2021 record: (9-6)

Battle of the Lefties

Carlos Rodon is a perfect example of the Giants. He’s always been good, rarely great, but he puts on that San Francisco uniform, and everything clicks. Few if any were better in the month of April than the Giants new ace.

Rodon threw five or more innings in all four of his outings, never gave up more than one run, and struck out eight or more in each contest. Put it all together, and the 29-year-old from Miami ranks in the top 10 in almost every category going 3-0 (7th), with a 1.17 ERA (4th), 0.83 WHIP (8th), and 38 strikeouts (5th) in 23 innings.

To make it all the more impressive, his victories have all come the Guardians, Athletics, and Mets who are a combined five games over .500.

He will face off with Julio Urias, who might be the most overlooked and underrated pitcher in all of baseball. Urias, who is in his seventh year in the big leagues, is still just 25 years old and in the 110 games he’s appeared in, he has just a 3.07 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

So far this season, he’s been even better than that. Urias is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Since his first start, where have up three runs in two innings, he’s given up just two runs on four hits over the next three games (16 innings).

That said, Urias struggled against the Giants last year, facing San Francisco four times with the Dodgers going 1-3 in those games, though only one of those losses was charged to the lefty.

Giants Struggle vs Southpaws, Dodgers Only Slightly Better

For being two of the better offenses in baseball, you wouldn’t expect them to struggle so much against left-handed pitching. Yet, for whatever reason, the Giants and Dodgers haven’t done very well against southpaws this season.

San Francisco’s hitting splits are pretty staggering.

Against lefties: .196 avg (28-for-143) with a .301 OBP and .609 OPS.

Against righties: .247 avg (146-for-591) with a .318 OBP and .714 OPS.

Dodgers splits aren’t quite as lopsided, but they too have been better against righties as well.

Against lefties: .223 avg (41-for-184) with a .289 OBP and .637 OPS.

Against righties: .243 avg (122-for-503) with a .332 OBP and .729 OPS.

Those numbers as well as two talented pitchers, explain why the run total line is so low.

X-factors to Watch

The X-factor for the Dodgers is actually going to be a left-handed hitter, Freddie Freeman, because to this point he’s been the best against left-handed pitching. ON the season, Freeman is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with one home run and three RBIs.

For San Francisco, nobody with more than 10 at-bats against lefties is hitting better than .250. Darin Ruf leads the way (6-for-24) with two doubles. He’s also been heating up lately, with five hits in his past three games.

How to Watch Giants vs Dodgers