Dodgers vs. Giants Game 2 Odds, Picks & Prediction (Saturday, Oct. 9)
Dodgers vs. Giants Odds
| Dodgers Odds | -111 |
| Giants Odds | +101 |
| Over/Under | 7.5 |
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 9 |
| Time | 9:07 p.m. |
| TV | TBS |
On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants will battle in the National League Division Series at Oracle Park. Entering play, Los Angeles has won 19 of their last 23 games. San Francisco has won 22 of their last 27 contests. In Game 2, the Dodgers will send Julio Urias to the hill. He will be opposed by Kevin Gausman. Oddsmakers are anticipating the Dodgers securing a win to even up the series, pricing Los Angeles as -111 road favorites.
Let’s take a deeper look at the matchup to see where bettors can find value at sportsbooks in this contest.
Los Angeles Dodgers (-111)
Urias thrived in his first full season as a starter for the Dodgers—posting a 2.96 ERA, 3.12 xERA, and a 3.13 FIP. As has been the case throughout his entire career, he was even better when pitching away from Dodger Stadium with a 2.98 FIP and a 1.00 WHIP. During the regular season, Urias ranked in the 86th percentile or better in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, xwOBA, xERA, barrel-rate, walk percentage, and chase-rate. Urias was nearly unhittable over his final 12 regular season outings with a 1.76 ERA and a 2.19 FIP. Bettors should expect a strong performance from him on Saturday.
The Los Angeles lineup features big names such as Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Will Smith, A.J. Pollock, and Cody Bellinger. However, this group underperformed expectations by a wide margin this summer and were only slightly better than mediocre at the plate for the majority of the campaign. In yesterday’s loss, these big names combined to go 5-for-26 (.192 batting average) at the plate. Max Muncy being out with an injury is a huge loss for this lineup, but this is still a collection of talented hitters capable of generating a number of run-scoring opportunities. Los Angeles will look to capitalize on a more favorable matchup in Game 2 against Gausman.
In their thrilling Wild Card win on Thursday night, the Dodgers used Blake Treinen, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Corey Knebel, and Brusdar Graterol in relief. Graterol is the only member of the relief corps that threw again yesterday, meaning that Manager Dave Roberts should have all of his top options rested and available this evening. Since September 1, the Dodgers relief unit ranks eighth in the league in bullpen FIP and should have little trouble protecting a late lead, should they be fortunate enough to have one.
San Francisco Giants (+101)
Gausman was an early season contender for the National League Cy Young award, but he faded considerably in the second half of the campaign with a 4.42 ERA and a 3.65 FIP after the All-Star break. Still, if there is a venue where Gausman is going to pitch well, it is going to be at Oracle Park, where he delivered a 2.80 FIP and a 1.05 WHIP in 2021. Gausman is a very good pitcher, but he is unquestionably the lesser of two arms on the hill to begin this contest on Saturday.
Against left-handed pitching in 2021, the Giants ranked 10 in OPS, ninth in ISO, first in walk-rate, and 10th in strikeout percentage. This offense is paced by two familiar names—Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford, in addition to trade deadline acquisition Kris Bryant. Unfortunately for San Francisco, they will be without arguably their best hitter for the remainder of the postseason after Brandon Belt suffered a broken thumb during the final week of the regular season. Still, as this lineup demonstrated in Game 1, they are not short on talent, and they are not going to allow injuries to be an excuse for poor performance. Expect this lineup to continue to have disciplined at-bats and to make life difficult on the opposing pitcher.
Since September 1, San Francisco’s relief corps ranks seventh in bullpen FIP. Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval were the only two members needed to close-out yesterday’s win after “(player-popup #logan-webb)Logan Webb”:/players/logan-webb-814868’s outstanding start. Having the entire relief corps rested and available for this evening, expect Manager Gabe Kapler to be aggressive in using his talented relievers at the first sign of trouble from Gausman, especially with a scheduled off-day on Sunday.
Game 2 Pick
Los Angeles’ offensive struggles continue to be a perplexing phenomenon, considering the bevy of talented names in their lineup. They ran into Webb, one of the hottest pitchers in baseball in yesterday’s loss, but get a more favorable matchup in Game 2 against Gausman. Urias has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball since the beginning of August. Looking to avoid a devastating 2-0 hole to start the series, Urias and the Dodgers should be locked-in and ready to go tonight. Put your faith in the defending World Series Champions to emerge victorious on Saturday.
PICK: Dodgers ML (-111)
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