It’s Wednesday, July 31 and the MLB trade deadline has officially passed, and it couldn’t be more fitting that bitter National League West rivals, two of the most active contenders at the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, are in the midst of a two-game set.
The Padres capped off a 5-0 comeback on Tuesday night with Donovan Solano’s 10th-inning walk-off knock, extending the season series lead over the Dodgers to 6-3, while drawing within 5.5 games in the division race.
Wedesday night sees a big-name pitching matchup as Dodger legend Clayton Kershaw toes the rubber for just the second time this season after coming back from shoulder surgery, and Dylan Cease, fresh off a no-hitter, takes the ball for the Padres in front of his home crowd.
To get you set for another epic Dodgers-Padres clash, we have expert predictions translating to money line, run total and two player prop best bets.
One of the MLB’s most emotionally expressive players is Padres third baseman Manny Machado, and no player seems more amped for the Dodgers-Padres clashes than he, the ex-Dodger and now presumed Padre lifer.
On Tuesday night, Machado made two incredible catches in foul territory while leaking into the stands, and belted his 15th and 16th homers of the season. His first home run of the night was the Padres’ first run of the game, and his second led off the ninth-inning rally, turning a 5-3 game into 5-4, setting up Jackson Merril’s home run to tie.
Tonight, Machado will look to carry that momentum against Kershaw, who struck out six while allowing six hits, two walks and two runs in four innings of work in his season debut against the San Francisco Giants.
While Kershaw is still working out some rust, Machado is a prime candidate for success. His lifetime numbers against Kershaw include four home runs, nine RBIs and a .991 OPS in 40 at-bats. Take Manny Machado Over 1.5 Hits, Runs and RBIs for elite value in an exploitable matchup.
While the Dodgers added five players at the trade deadline, their starting pitching is still severely banged up and many of their core and key everyday players remain sidelined.
No Mookie Betts, no Freddie Freeman, no Max Muncy, no Miguel Rojas, no Chris Taylor and no Tommy Edman, who is one of the Dodgers’ deadline additions, but is still working back from injury.
Still, any time you can get the Dodgers at plus money to win a game is enticing, and following two heartbreaking losses in their last three games, we expect LA to step up and avoid a two-game sweep in San Diego.
Even if he gives up a couple of runs, Kershaw should pitch deeper into this contest, and despite the absolute heater Dylan Cease is on right now, it’s not always easy following up a no-hitter with another gem of a performance.
The Dodgers scored five runs in the top of the first inning last night and were blanked the rest of the way. Shohei Ohtani was a non-factor. Expect Ohtani and the Dodgers to spread out the offense and come up with more timely production. Take the Los Angeles Dodgers ML at +110.
Let’s break down this “heater” Cease is on. In his last 22 innings of work, Cease has allowed two hits and zero runs while striking out 30 – making him far and away the MLB’s most dominant pitcher over the last three starts. But again, it’s hard to keep that going, especially given Cease’s rollercoaster track record and the fact this is a bitter rivalry with a lot of emotions at stake.
Last night, both bullpens and high-leverage arms at that, were leaned on heavily. With Kershaw’s expectations muddied right now, Cease’s expected regression and a low run total at near even-money value, let’s take a shot at Over 7 Total Runs.
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LA Dodgers | +115 ML |
SD Padres | -135 ML |
Run Line | SD Padres -1.5 |
Total | O/U 7 |
Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) | +290 |
Manny Machado (SD Padres) | +425 |
Teoscar Hernandez (LA Dodgers) | +525 |
Will Smith (LA Dodgers) | +600 |
Jurickson Profar (SD Padres) | +700 |
Xander Bogaerts (SD Padres) | +650 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.