The Los Angeles Dodgers won Major League Baseball’s first two regular season games of 2014 on their trip Down Under, and return for the formal Opening Day game back in the United States on Sunday night. They will meet a San Diego Padres team that is looking to give their fans at Petco Park something to cheer about heading into a season that may not be heavy on wins.
Read on for everything you need know to bet on the first meaningful baseball game on American soil of 2014.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
Where: Petco Park, San Diego, California
When: March 30, 8:10 PM EST
Betting on the Los Angeles Dodgers
The LA Dodgers left Australia with a pair of wins as souvenirs after sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks in their back-to-back set in Sydney, Australia.
In the first game, Clayton Kershaw gave up five hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings of work, while Scott Van Slyke had a homer and drove in two runs to lead the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory. In the second, the Dodgers got the bats going en route to a 7-5 win. Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched for five innings, striking out five and giving up no runs, while Yasiel Puig banged in three hits and two RBIs.
The Dodgers will be facing San Diego Padres’ starter Andrew Cashner, a pitcher they beat three times last season. Moreover, the Dodgers are 7-1 in their last eight games against San Diego. As discussed in our preview of the NL West, the Dodgers are huge favorites to win the division this season at -290, in part because of the amount they play middling divisional opponents like the Padres.
Betting on the San Diego Padres
[sc:MLB240banner ]To surpass their 76-86 finish last season, the Padres need Chase Headley to rediscover his form from 2012, when he led the team in homers, RBI’s, batting average, OBP, and hits. That and the continued maturation of Jedd Gyorko – who led all NL rookies last season with 23 homers – could get this team off to a strong start to the season.
The Padres’ starter Cashner had a great season in 2013, finishing with a 10-9 record and a 3.09 ERA, and although San Diego lost in all of his three starts against the Dodgers last season, he pitched exceptionally well against them as he never gave up more than one earned run in any of those games. If anything, it’s the putrid offense of the Padres that should catch the blame, having managed just two runs in all three games combined.
Prediction
Petco Park is an extremely pitcher-friendly park, which sounds good news to the LA Dodgers’ vaunted pitching staff and to under bettors, too. In fact, the Dodgers and Padres have gone under the totals in their last five meetings at Petco Park. Hit the under in this Opening Day match up.
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