Dodgers vs. Padres, 9:08 ET

Dodgers vs. Padres, 9:08 ET

If you’ve been busy watching football over the past few days, I certainly understand it, but you’ve probably missed some exciting games on the diamond. Specifically, this series between the Dodgers and the Padres has had a bit of everything through two games. This third game should be no different as the teams move to San Diego for the next one. Let’s take a look at how we should bet Game 3 between the Dodgers and the Padres. 

Over the past few years, the Dodgers have been nothing short of great. They consistently win 90+ games, usually own the division, and lure or trade for the best players. The postseason has been a bit different as they’ve not always made it as far as they would like. Obviously, there can only be one World Series winner, but they have been bounced in various spots in the playoffs. This season, the big acquisitions for the Dodgers were Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Glasnow is on the injured list, leaving a large hole in the Dodgers rotation. Tonight they send out Walker Buehler to the hill in hopes that he can resemble the Ace he looked like from a few years ago. Buehler was injured for a portion of this season but didn’t have great numbers with a 1-6 record, 5.38 ERA, and a 1.55 WHIP. He started the season in May, and made eight starts. Then was injured before picking work back up in August with another eight starts. He only pitched six innings three times this season. I have to expect that the hook will be quick for Buehler if he shows any sign of trouble in this one. He faced the Padres twice this season even in the 16 outings. In his first start in San Diego, he allowed three earned runs, including two homers over 3.1 innings. His last start, which came on September 26th, he allowed one earned run in five innings against the Padres.

Walker Buehler was reportedly robbed at Santa Anita Park in California and had his $100,000 watch stolen from him. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

If you missed the last game, there was quite the delay because of Dodger fans. They started throwing a bunch of garbage on the field. I won’t say the Padres players didn’t egg them on a bit, but there really is no room for that in any sport. That might have been bad news for the Dodgers though because the Padres started to play angry after that incident and they pulled away in a game they were winning before the garbage was tossed on the field. The Padres hit six homers in that game, including two from Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado, who hasn’t looked great yet in the playoffs, gathered his team and inspired them with some sort of message in the dugout. He then allegedly threw a ball at Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager. I don’t really think that was as big of a deal as they made it seem. Tonight, they put Michael King on the hill to take a commanding 2-1 lead over their division rivals. King was great this season, going 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP with 201 strikeouts. All of those numbers fell in the top-20 of the league. He faced the Dodgers four times this season. The first two outings he allowed seven earned runs over 8.1 innings. In the other two starts, he allowed at total of five hits over 12 innings and no runs. He has already made his first postseason start, going seven innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs while striking out 12 Braves hitters.

I think the Padres win this game with little effort. I like them to take the first five innings on the run line. I think King is locked in and has made the necessary adjustments for facing the Dodgers. Buehler has the potential to put up a ton of zeroes on the scoreboard, but in this one, I’m going to take King and the Padres to cover the -0.5 run line through five innings.

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