Third Time Is A Charm? Game 3 Of Dodgers Vs Yankees

Dodgers vs. Yankees, 8:08 ET

Dodgers vs. Yankees, 8:08 ET

From an actual viewing standpoint, the World Series has been fantastic with great games in Los Angeles. From a betting standpoint, I haven’t upheld my end of the bargain with losses in both games. Perhaps I’m not being objective enough and evaluating the games individually and thinking too much about just trying to get my future of the Yankees winning the World Series to the finish line. Here we go with Game 3 and I am looking to get back on track here as the Dodgers take on the Yankees in New York.

I suppose no one should really be shocked that the Dodgers are in this position. The team has done a great job of just throwing money at their problems and they find solutions with that method. It certainly has worked out this year as the acquisition of both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have paid extreme dividends for them and put them in a position to win just two more games and be World Series Champions. Ohtani has been extraordinary all season but is just 1-for-8 in the series and hurt his shoulder on Saturday. Manager Dave Roberts said he is fine and will be in the lineup today, but I do have to wonder how effective he will be. Tonight they are going to put Walker Buehler on the hill and look for a commanding third victory. Buehler is a guy that has been very talented over the years, but had a bunch of injury issues. He only made 16 starts and pitched just 75.1 innings in the regular season. He’s made two playoff starts. Against the Padres, he went five innings and allowed six earned runs. All of the runs came in one inning. In the second start, he pitched four innings, allowing just three hits and no runs. In eight of his nine innings this postseason, he hasn’t allowed a run. Perhaps all he needs to do is avoid that one bad inning. The Yankees don’t have a ton of experience against Buehler with only Jazz Chisholm having an average higher than .300 against Buehler. 

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Yankees are also willing to open their wallets to fix their problems as well and did a great job of that by adding Juan Soto (this was via trade, but they still added the salary for this season) to the club. However, the Yankees are against the ropes, but not quite trapped in a corner. Losing the series’ first two games isn’t ideal, but it also isn’t insurmountable. This is the first time they’ve lost two games in a postseason series. This is a must-win game for them, but the momentum certainly is not on their side. In order to win this one, the pitching obviously needs to improve, but the fielding also has to get a bit better. Watching the game, it seems like some of the team isn’t quite as focused. Specifically, when Ohtani hit his double, the ball bounced away and he scampered to third. Where was the backup? Expect that, and other things to likely improve as they return home. They hand the ball to Clarke Schmidt tonight. Schmidt had a good year, going 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. In the playoffs, he has gone 4.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs in each game. 

When the going gets tough, the tough have to get going. In this case, the Yankees absolutely need to get a win. If they go down 3-0, they might as well start packing their bags and booking flights for vacation plans. I am not sure the Yankees can come back and win this series any longer, but I do like the Yankees to win this game and I’ll play it at -1 with a -129 number. This is the third straight game I’ve picked the Yankees, and as one reader kindly DM’d me, he is retiring early from my picks, so feel free to fade. One bet I love, if you can find it, is to take that neither starter records a win. I don’t think either finishes five innings. 

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