I have long held the belief that giving the top MLB teams a bye in the wild-card round was more of a detriment than a reward for their spectacular performances in the regular season, and this divisional round is proving just that. Aside from the All-Star break, there is no other time in the 162-game MLB regular season that teams receive 5 full days off. The Orioles, Astros, Braves and Dodgers are now 1-5 in the divisional round and the MLB might have a rest problem on their hands.
The Dodgers got steamrolled 11-2 by the D-backs in Game 1 and tonight now looks like a must-win situation for an L.A. team with World Series aspirations. I don't think this Dodgers team will roll over, however, and tonight I have a Same Game Parlay cooked up that pays out at 5/1 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Dodgers ML (-165)
Game 1 couldn't have gone much worse for the Dodgers on Saturday night. Clayton Kershaw recorded just 1 out and in the blink of an eye the Dodgers found themselves behind 9-0 after 2 innings. The good news is it's difficult to imagine a scenario where the Dodgers start tonight's game in a worse position than they did in Game 1. Even better news is that the Dodgers have great numbers against the Diamondbacks' starting pitcher Zac Gallen. He has gone up against this lineup twice this season and has given up 5 earned runs in 4.2 innings and 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings.
Gallen had a remarkable 2022 campaign, but I'm not buying all the hype on the D-Backs' ace. Through 34 regular-season starts this season, Gallen posted a 3.47 ERA, 4.18 xERA and a 46.2% hard-hit rate, which is well below the MLB league average of 36.3%. Gallen put together a decent outing in the wild-card round against the Brewers, allowing 2 earned runs across 6.0 innings, but surrendered 3 walks and often couldn't put away hitters in 2-strike counts. I think Gallen has a much more difficult challenge ahead of him in L.A tonight.