Are the Guardians a Safe MLB Betting Pick Against the Dodgers on Tuesday?

In the spring, many experts predicted that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians would meet in the 2017 World Series. Of course the Dodgers lost in last year’s NLCS to the Cubs and the Indians were beaten by the Cubbies in the Fall Classic. The Dodgers and Indians open a terrific interleague series on Tuesday night, and L.A. will be an MLB odds favorite behind ace Clayton Kershaw.

LA Dodgers at Cleveland MLB Betting Prediction & Game Info

RECAP: #Dodgers complete sweep of Reds behind @coreyseager_5‘s go-ahead grand slam. #LetsGoDodgers : https://t.co/EjpzRiMADx pic.twitter.com/AkbCcS2MvV

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 12, 2017

When: Tuesday, June 13, 7:10 PM ET Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland Probable pitchers (away/home): Clayton Kershaw/Trevor Bauer TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: Los Angeles / Cleveland Opening MLB Lines: Dodgers favored by TBA

Why Bet On LA Dodgers?

The Dodgers enter on a four-game winning streak after sweeping a weekend series with the Reds. It was 9-7 in the finale Sunday. Corey Seager capped Los Angeles’ six-run eighth inning with his first career grand slam. Rookie Cody Bellinger sparked Los Angeles’ rally with one-out drive against Austin Brice. Rasiel Iglesias replaced Brice with a runner on first and walked three straight batters to force in a run, trimming Cincinnati’s lead to 7-5. Seager then hit a drive to center for his ninth homer. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez has been diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back and will undergo an MRI on Monday. Manager Dave Roberts said Gonzalez’s back “locked up” on him, which led to his departure in the seventh inning Sunday against Cincinnati. Roberts said that placing him on the DL and activating outfielder Joc Pederson is “an option.” In that scenario, Bellinger would slot in as the Dodgers’ everyday first baseman. It’s lefty ace Clayton Kershaw (8-2, 2.20 ERA) on the mound here. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner is having another dominating season. He has held opponents to a .204 batting average. Kershaw allowed one run on three hits over seven innings in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman burned Kershaw for a solo home run in the second inning, but he was on point outside of that one mistake. Kershaw struck out nine and walked three on the afternoon. He probably could have pitched the eighth, too, but manager Dave Roberts opted to sit him down at the end of seven having thrown 95 pitches (60 strikes). Initially, Kershaw and Corey Kluber, a pair of former Cy Young Award winners, were in line to battle on Wednesday in this series. With off-days last Thursday and Monday, however, the Dodgers opted to reorder the rotation so that Kershaw didn’t have too much time in between starts. Kershaw has only faced the Indians once. On June 20, 2008, Kershaw allowed four runs in five innings against the Tribe at Dodger Stadium. In that game, he pitched opposite Cliff Lee, who proceeded to capture the American League Cy Young Award that season.

Why Bet On Cleveland?

The Tribe took two of three over the weekend at home vs. the White Sox, taking the finale Sunday 4-2. Francisco Lindor, Roberto Perez and Erik Gonzalez each drove in a run for Cleveland. Lindor, who was in a 6-for-44 slump, tacked on an RBI double in the seventh. Manager Terry Francona sat struggling second baseman Jason Kipnis on Sunday. “He’s kind of struggling a little bit,'” Francona said. “You could see he was frustrated [Saturday] night.”Kipnis is batting .220 with a .658 OPS this season, and just .150 with a .589 OPS over his last 11 games. Cleveland’s offense is batting .284 with an .867 OPS and .279 (76-272) avg. w/RISP in the club’s 31 wins, but just .206 with a .602 OPS and .135 (27-195) avg. w/RISP in the club’s 29 losses. Cleveland is 20-8 in games with 2+ hits w/RISP, but just 11-21 when collecting one-or- zero hits w/RISP. Cleveland has gone 9-11-1 in 20 series played in 2017, going 4-6- 0 at home & 5-5-1 on the road. The Tribe are just 8-13 in series openers, but 21-8 in series finales (4-5 in rubber games). Cleveland has 3 sweeps (April 3-5 at TEX, April 17-20 at MIN, May 19-21 at HOU) & has been swept twice: once in a series of 3+ games (April 7-9 at ARI) & once in a 2-game series (June 6-7 at COL). It’s Trevor Bauer (5-5, 6.10) on the mound. Bauer surrendered four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings in Wednesday’s loss to the Rockies. Bauer walked five and threw just 49 of 86 pitches for strikes in the disappointing performance. Two-run doubles by Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon accounted for the run-scoring damage on his line. Outside of his brilliant 14-strikeout performance against the A’s two starts ago, the season as a whole has been a struggle for Bauer. In two career starts against the Dodgers, Bauer is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.

LA Dodgers at Cleveland MLB Betting Pick: LA Dodgers

You likely won’t find me betting against Kershaw once in 2017.