After a heated Sportsbook game between the two teams that competed in the 2017 World Series that had the benches clear at the end of the sixth inning, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to complete the road sweep of the two-game series over the Houston Astros.
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- Date/Time: July 29, 7:10 p.m. ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Dodgers -127 | O/U 10 runs (Line History)
- Dodgers vs Astros Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The betting lines on this game have remained steady with the Dodgers going off as -127 favorites and the Astros on the board as +117 home underdogs. Los Angeles cashed in as a -150 favorite in the first game of this series.
Starting Pitchers Analysis
If not for injuries, this matchup could have been between Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. Instead, both clubs will send a rookie to the mound on Wednesday night.
Dustin May allowed seven hits in only 4.1 innings pitched last Thursday against the San Francisco Giants, but he managed to limit the damage to only one run. May had a 3.63 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 34.2 innings for the Dodgers last season across four starts and 10 bullpen appearances.
Cristian Javier pitched the first inning of his MLB career on Saturday, allowing only one hit and recording a strikeout in a scoreless frame of relief against the Seattle Mariners. Javier had a 1.74 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP with 170 strikeouts in 113.2 minor-league innings pitched in 2019.
Los Angeles News & Notes
The first two games of Los Angeles’s four-game series against the heavily depleted San Francisco Giants last week went as expected with an 8-1 win on Thursday and a 9-1 win on Friday. But the Dodgers followed those wins up with losses as a -375 favorite on Saturday and a -320 favorite on Sunday, reminding everyone that almost nothing is a given in this strange 2020 season.
One thing that is a given, however, is the mutual dislike between the Dodgers and Astros. Los Angeles won the first game of this series 5-2 in a contentious game that saw Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly throw at Alex Bregman and get vocal with Carlos Correa after striking him out.
Houston News & Notes
Houston opened its season with a 3-1 series win over the Seattle Mariners, looking sharp on offense by averaging 7.25 runs per game over the four-game series. This Astros lineup can hit without the help of sign stealing, but that didn’t stop Houston from doing just that in 2017 and 2018. And now the Astros have to deal with this new reality of always having a target on their back.
No team benefits more from not having fans in the stands this season than the Astros, who would have certainly bore the brunt of intense vitriol from opposing teams’ fans around the nation. But Tuesday night’s game proved that even without fans the Astros are still going to have to overcome plenty of adversity in 2020.
Betting Pick: OVER 10
Dustin May and Cristian Javier are both great young pitching prospects, but these two lineups are two of the best and deepest in baseball. Look for at least one of these young starters to have a rough day and for the game to go OVER 10 runs.
- Carlos Correa went 3-for-4 with a home run in the series opener.
- A.J. Pollock leads both teams with a .455 batting average.
- The total has gone OVER in all but one of Houston’s games this season.
