San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Baseball Prediction and Betting Preview – September 24, 2014

Depending on what happens in the next few days, tonight could be the last time the San Francisco Giants (85-72) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (90-68) meet on the field this season. The Giants can book a ticket to the postseason with a win tonight, while the Dodgers can be back-to-back National League West division champions with a victory of their own. Which team’s party is about to be spoiled later? Find out more about this game when you read our Giants vs. Dodgers preview below.

You can also check out our preview of other games tonight, including the Royals vs. Indians. You can also see our list of five best baseball games to bet on today here.
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San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview

Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

When: Wednesday, September 24, 10:00 PM ET

Line: San Francisco Giants (+220) at Los Angeles Dodgers (-260); total: 6.0 – view all MLB lines

What’s at stake

[sc:MLB240banner ]The Giants can join the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL wild card round if they earn another win or if the Milwaukee Brewers lose one more. But even if they do clinch a wild card ticket tonight, the Giants still need to win as much as they can to have a shot at securing a home field advantage against Pittsburgh, who owns the tie-breaker since the Pirates won their season series versus San Francisco, four games to two. As for the Dodgers, they can take home their second-consecutive NL West title with a win later.

Betting on the San Francisco Giants

Combined with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ (86-71) 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Giants’ 4-2 loss last night at the Dodger Stadium has caused San Francisco to lose their grip of the top spot in the National League standings. Nevertheless, the Giants still have five games to play to try to claim it back.

San Francisco will now pin its hopes of containing Los Angeles’ offense on 39-year-old Tim Hudson (9-12, 3.52 ERA) after the usually reliable Madison Bumgarner got heavily tagged by the Dodgers’ last night. Hudson is still searching for his first win this month, going 0-3 with a discomforting 9.92 ERA and 2.08 WHIP. His bad form, however, can be partly attributed to a sore hip, which has obviously bothered the veteran, and an anemic run support.

In Hudson’s last start, he gave up four earned runs in 4.1 innings and got nothing from the offense in the Giants’ 5-0 loss at the hands of the San Diego Padres on September 19.  That game was part of Hudson’s 11.1 total innings of work across his last four starts, where San Francisco was only able to cough up one run of support.

Someone has to step up tonight from the Giants’ offense against Clayton Kershaw.  Shortstop Brandon Crawford can be that guy. He has hit 9-for-22 during the team’s last six games for a .409 batting average. Second baseman Joe Panik and catcher Buster Posey are other Giants who have hit fairly well lately, too. Panik has gone 7-for-23 (.304), while the former NL MVP is 6-for-23 (.261) during the last six games.

Betting on the Los Angeles Dodgers

Save for a catastrophic late-season meltdown, the Dodgers have all but secured the NL West division crown with their magic number now down to one after last night’s win over the Giants. They’ll go for the clincher later with no less than Clayton Kershaw (20-3, 1.80 ERA) taking the hill for their final meeting with San Francisco in this regular season.

The Dodgers rarely lose when Kershaw is on the mound. They are 9-1 in the reigning NL Cy Young winner’s last 10 starts, which includes two games against San Francisco. Kershaw keeps an outstanding 13-5 lifetime record in 24 starts against the Giants with a low 1.44 ERA to boot. This season, he is 2-0 in three starts against San Francisco to go along with an impressive 1.88 ERA.

On offense, the Dodgers continue to do a fine job at the plate. They are third in the majors on batting average with a .292 batting average this month, and second with 124 total runs. Furthermore, the Dodgers have good memories of the last time they saw the Giants’ Hudson on the mound. Last September 13th, the Dodgers bludgeoned Hudson with six runs right in the first inning on their way to a commanding 17-0 victory.

Writer’s Prediction

The Dodgers go for the kill and win the NL West division title with a 6-2 win over San Francisco as -202 home faves. Create a betting account now, while odds are still available.
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