Buehler, Dodgers Big Faves Over Astros on Tuesday Night

The Los Angeles Dodgers are 5-3 over their last eight games, including a 2-0 record at home. The Dodgers return home from a six-game road trip when they host the Houston Astros on Tuesday night in the first game of a two-game series.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Dodgers opened as -155 favorites but have received enough betting action to bump the line up to Los Angeles -175. The Astros will try to score an upset as +150 road underdogs while the game’s total has remained steady at 8 runs. The OVER is 4-1 in Los Angeles’s last five games.

Starting Pitchers Analysis

Lance McCullers Jr. allowed four earned runs for the second straight game in last Tuesday’s 8-6 win over the Seattle Mariners. Before those two starts, he had allowed two earned runs or less in each of his previous six outings. The right-hander carries an 8-2 record, a 3.23 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP into Tuesday night’s matchup.

Walker Buehler allowed only three hits and two walks across seven scoreless innings last Wednesday in Los Angeles’s 8-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Buehler is 11-1 on the season with a 2.19 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP and 139 strikeouts in 135.2 innings. The 27-year-old has allowed one earned run or none in nine of his last 14 starts.

Houston News & Notes

The Astros were on a 6-1 run before losing their last two games to San Francisco over the weekend. Houston’s pitching was uncharacteristically shaky last week as the team has allowed 6.67 runs per game over its last six games against the Giants and the Seattle Mariners.

The bullpen was Houston’s main area of focus at the trade deadline as the team added Kendall Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Rafael Montero and Phil Maton before Friday’s trade deadline. The Astros have the best offense in the majors, averaging 5.47 runs per game, and a rock-solid starting rotation that has a 3.54 ERA that ranks sixth-best in the majors. Going all-in on bullpen depth made sense for this Houston squad that enters Tuesday’s action with the American League’s best record at 64-42.

Los Angeles News & Notes

Visiting the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks is a great way to break out of a slump. The Dodgers lost to the Diamondbacks 6-5 on Friday to fall to 4-8 over a 12-game stretch before blowing them out 8-3 on Saturday and 13-0 on Sunday. Justin Turner went 4-for-10 with three runs, two home runs and six RBIs over the weekend.

The Dodgers made the trade deadline’s biggest splash when they sent four prospects to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. Neither all-star has made his Dodgers debut yet as Scherzer is penciled in to start against the Astros tomorrow and Turner is on the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19. Los Angeles is 64-43 this season and currently sits 3.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

Betting Pick: Los Angeles -175