When a team takes a 2-0 lead in the World Series, it usually wins it. That’s what the Los Angeles Dodgers can do on Wednesday night in Game 2 at home against the Houston Astros before the Fall Classic takes a day off and shifts back to Houston. Although things could shift in the odds to win the Fall Classic after this game, L.A. is a slight World Series odds favorite for Game 2.
In 14 starts at home, he went 7-5 with a 2.77 ERA (24 ER/78.0 IP) and limited the opposition to a .179 average. He struck out 93 batters against 33 walks, while posting a 1.05 WHIP. His opponents’ batting average at home ranked third in the majors (min. 10 GS), while his .568 opponents’ OPS ranked sixth and ERA ranked 14th.
On Aug. 23 at Pittsburgh, he took a bid for a perfect game into the ninth inning, and after completing 9.0 hitless frames he surrendered a home run in the 10th. Hill became the first pitcher to lose a no-hit bid in the 10th inning or later since the Expos’ Pedro Martinez took his bid for a perfect game into the 10th inning on June 3, 1995 vs. the Padres. Hill, who also tossed 7.0 perfect innings on Sept. 10, 2016 at Miami before being removed, would have been the second-oldest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game (Randy Johnson, 40).
Astros vs. Dodgers World Series Odds & MLB Betting Pick for Game 2
When: Wednesday, October 25th, 8:09 PM ET Where: Dodger Stadium TV: Fox Stream: MLB.tv Radio: ESPN Radio / KBME 790 (Houston) / 570 LA Sports (Los Angeles) Opening World Series Odds: Dodgers -115, Astros +105 (7.5)Advantage: LA.@Dodgers take Game 1 as bats back a dominant @ClaytonKersh22: https://t.co/49O9h7RxiC #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/NB5YrYgmC6
— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2017
Updated 2017 World Series Betting Odds To Win – October 23rd Edition
Game 1 Result
The Dodgers still have just one loss in these playoffs after winning Game 1 on Tuesday night, 3-1, behind ace Clayton Kershaw. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out 11, gave up just three hits and walked none over seven innings. His lone blemish was a home run by Alex Bregman in the fourth that made it 1-all. Against a Houston lineup full of high-contact hitters, he became only the third pitcher this season to reach 10 K’s against the Astros. Two Dodgers relievers, Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen, breezed through the eighth and ninth innings. The Dodgers’ dominant relievers have thrown 25 straight scoreless innings this postseason. Justin Turner hit the tiebreaker two-run homer in the sixth inning. Turner now has 26 career postseason RBI, tying Duke Snider’s Dodgers franchise record. He has four homers and 14 RBI in this postseason run alone. If you are an Astros fan, you have to worry about the MLB’s best regular season offense on the road in these playoffs. In the Bronx against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, the Astros scored one run in Game 3, four in Game 4 and were shut out in Game 5. So in their past four postseason games on the road, Houston has scored a total of six runs. The first five Astros’ batters were 2-for-18 in Game 1.Latest World Series Betting Trends
- Astros are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 games
- Astros are 13-6 SU in the last 19 games
- The total went UNDER in 6 of Houston’s last 9 games
- LA Dodgers are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games
- LA Dodgers are 10-1 SU in the last 11 games
- The total went UNDER in 4 of the LA Dodgers’s last 5 games
Why Bet On Houston?
Its’s red-hot Justin Verlander for the Astros, who simply aren’t in the World Series if they don’t acquire Verlander on Aug. 31 from Detroit. Verlander, who will cost the Astros $20 million a year through his age-36 season in 2019, is a former Cy Young winner and AL MVP, the last pitcher to take home that honor. He also was named MVP of the ALCS. In Game 2 of the ALCS against the Yankees, Verlander pitched a five-hitter with 13 strikeouts. He walked off the mound in the middle of the ninth after his 124th pitch in a tie game, and the Astros won 2-1 when Jose Altuve dashed home from first base on Carlos Correa’s double in the bottom half. In Game 6 while facing elimination, Verlander had seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits with eight strikeouts. It’s too bad this isn’t an elimination game as Verlander has not allowed a run in his last 24.0 innings in which his team was facing elimination in the postseason, a streak that dates back to 2012. That matches the longest such scoreless innings streak in postseason history, also reached by Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner from 2014-16. His streak began with San Francisco’s Wild Card win in 2014 and came to an end in the 2016 Division Series. Verlander, a former MVP, has gotten the win in all five of his starts for Houston in the regular season and all four of his appearances in the postseason, including a relief outing on three days rest at Fenway Park to finish off the Red Sox in the Division Series. Verlander is the only pitcher in MLB to record a win in each of his first four regular season appearances as well as his first four postseason appearances for a team.Why Bet On LA Dodgers?
The Dodgers go with lefty Rich Hill, who has thrown nine innings over two games this postseason, both of which were starts. In that time he’s allowed three runs on six hits and four walks. Hill has been effective in two postseason starts, but he hasn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning. He is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA in his career against Houston and 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA at Minute Maid Park. Hill finished his first full season as a Dodger with a 12-8 record and posted a 3.32 ERA (50 ER/135.2 IP) in 25 starts. He held the opposition to a .203 batting average, while striking out 166 batters against 49 walks (11.01 strikeouts per nine innings) and posting a 1.09 WHIP. Hill also hitters to a .186 average with runners in scoring position, which ranked 10th in the NL. His .114 opponents’ batting average with runners in scoring position with two outs ranked sixth in the NL.
In 14 starts at home, he went 7-5 with a 2.77 ERA (24 ER/78.0 IP) and limited the opposition to a .179 average. He struck out 93 batters against 33 walks, while posting a 1.05 WHIP. His opponents’ batting average at home ranked third in the majors (min. 10 GS), while his .568 opponents’ OPS ranked sixth and ERA ranked 14th.
On Aug. 23 at Pittsburgh, he took a bid for a perfect game into the ninth inning, and after completing 9.0 hitless frames he surrendered a home run in the 10th. Hill became the first pitcher to lose a no-hit bid in the 10th inning or later since the Expos’ Pedro Martinez took his bid for a perfect game into the 10th inning on June 3, 1995 vs. the Padres. Hill, who also tossed 7.0 perfect innings on Sept. 10, 2016 at Miami before being removed, would have been the second-oldest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game (Randy Johnson, 40).
