Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers begin defense of their World Series title with a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field starting on Thursday, and you should expect comparable betting lines in favor of them throughout. The Dodgers opened as -245 road favorites (wager $245 to win $100) for the series opener, although they have been bet down at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, with many seemingly finding value on the home underdogs in this spot.
Los Angeles will send three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw to the mound to start the series followed by newly acquired ace and reigning Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias in that order. This rotation will be tough for anyone to wager against, but the massive lines will also make it difficult to lay the heavy juice every game. Regardless, Kershaw is 24-8 lifetime versus the Rockies with a 3.22 ERA in 43 career starts.
For Colorado, German Marquez will get the call opposite Kershaw in the series opener, with Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray and Austin Gomber next in line, respectively. Marquez was actually on the mound for a 5-2 upset win over the Dodgers as a +170 road underdog at sports betting sites on September 5 of last year, and the UNDER is 4-0-1 in his past five starts against them. The Rockies also won the last meeting with them 6-3 as +170 home underdogs on September 20.
Los Angeles has pretty much dominated the series otherwise, taking 23 of the past 30 meetings dating back to October 1, 2018 according to the OddsShark MLB Database. That includes seven of 10 last season along with 14 of 18. The Dodgers had won the previous five road meetings before the last one too. In addition, the UNDER is on a 5-1-1 run in the past seven head-to-head matchups at Coors Field, including two straight. Keep in mind though, all seven of those totals closed at 12 runs or higher, and Kershaw started one of them last September 19 that ended as a 6-1 victory for Los Angeles.
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