Lock it In! Dodgers vs Reds MLB Betting Lines & Our Expert Pick

It’s a lighter schedule around the majors on Thursday per usual with only one late-night game as Cincinnati opens a series at the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are heavy favorites on the MLB odds behind Cy Young candidate Tyler Glasnow.

The Dodgers are coming off a 2-1 series win over the Giants, while the Reds are coming into this new game with 2 losses after losing to the Diamondbacks.

Cincinnati Reds Moneyline +222

Cincinnati recently got outfielder TJ Friedl off the injured list … but he just landed back on it with a thumb fracture. The 28-year-old missed the season’s first six weeks after breaking his wrist during Spring Training. He played six games and tallied 24 plate appearances before being hit by a Kyle Harrison pitch leading off Sunday’s game against the Giants. Friedl was one of the Reds best players in 2023 with a .279/.352/.467 line across 556 plate appearances to go with 18 home runs and 27 stolen bases while playing solid center field defense.

Shortstop Elly De La Cruz didn’t start the finale in Arizona on Wednesday but it was simply a rest day. He leads the majors with 26 stolen bases, more than 15 teams. His 26 steals are the most by any player through his first 42 games of a season since the White Sox’s Scott Podsednik in 2005 (26). De La Cruz is just the fifth MLB player since at least 1901 with at least 9 HR and 25 SB in any 40-game, single-season span, the first since Eric Davis and Rickey Henderson both did it in 1986. The Reds are on pace to steal 285 bases, which would rank third club history.

It’s scheduled to be good-looking young lefty Nick Lodolo on the mound. Lodolo (3-2) took the loss last Saturday versus the Giants, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk while striking out six over six innings. All of the damage against Lodolo came in the opening frame when the Giants struck for four runs, courtesy of a two-out grand slam from Matt Chapman, following a pair of hits and a walk.

Lodolo went heavy on his fastball in the first inning, and he stuck with that approach against Chapman — a decision he would go on to regret. After getting ahead, 1-2, Lodolo left a four-seamer over the heart of the plate that was crushed into the bleachers in left-center.

“I’ll be honest, looking back on it, I definitely shouldn’t have done that,” Lodolo said. “Shoulda, woulda, coulda, obviously, the result. … It’s the second start in a row that I’ve been a pitch away, and it’s got me early.”

Lodolo also gave up two hits in the fourth but escaped that rough patch with no further damage. He started the season with just five runs allowed over his first four starts, but he’s been tagged for four runs in each of his last two outings. He’s now at a 3.34 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 43:9 K:BB through 35 innings over six starts. Lodolo already has thrown more total innings than last season when a stress fracture in his left tibia limited him to just seven starts (34 1/3 innings).

Note that Lodolo has been dealing with a groin injury so if he’s scratched it likely will be Nick Martinez (0-2, 4.86). Martinez would be pitching on three days’ rest after he had a 1.1-inning relief appearance on May 12. He remains relatively stretched out, though, having made four starts for the Reds this season, with the last one coming on April 30.

Los Angeles Dodgers Moneyline -330

Closer Evan Phillips threw a bullpen session on Wednesday. It was his first time throwing off a mound for Phillips since hitting the injured list back in early May with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. The hope is that the 29-year-old won’t need a rehab assignment before returning to Los Angeles’ bullpen but it won’t happen by Thursday. The right-hander has a 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings this season and has converted all eight of his save opportunities.

Outfielder Jason Heyward has been on the 10-day injured list since April 3 with lower back tightness, but he is closing in on a return after beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

It’s righty and NL Cy Young contender Tyler Glasnow on the mound for the Dodgers. Glasnow (6-1) allowed a run on one hit and two walks while striking out 10 over seven innings in a no-decision versus the Padres last Friday. Glasnow was stellar with the one hit against him being a Luis Campusano solo home run in the third inning.

It was the fourth time this season Glasnow has struck out 10 or more batters, and it was also his fourth straight quality start. He trimmed his ERA to 2.53 with a 0.86 WHIP and a 73:15 K:BB over 57 innings across nine starts. Glasnow’s workload will be something to keep an eye on — he’s never pitched more than 120 innings in a season, often due to injuries. The Dodgers have given the right-hander at least five days off between starts in 2024, and that will continue for the foreseeable future.

Over his last four starts, Glasnow has allowed just four runs over 28 innings. In that span, he has recorded 10 strikeouts three times and leads the majors with 73 punchouts.

“It’s been a nice rhythm the last few I’ve strung along together,” Glasnow said. “It’s felt really consistent from a few starts ago.”

Dodgers starters overall have a 2.40 ERA in their past 21 games, which is third in the majors during that span. During this stretch, the starters have recorded 13 quality starts. The team ERA is a big-league best 1.90 since April 21. The bullpen ERA in that span is 0.98.

Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers had held opponents to four runs or less for 20 consecutive games, adding to their franchise record, besting the previous mark of 17 (August 23-September 9, 1977). In the live-ball era (since 1920), the MLB record is 25 games by St. Louis (NL) in 1942 and Cleveland in 2017.

Reds at Dodgers Info

When: Thursday, 10:10 PM ET
Where: Dodger Stadium
Pitchers (away/home): Nick Lodolo OR Nick Martinez/Tyler Glasnow
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/

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