The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox will face off in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series on Tuesday 10/23/18 at Fenway Park in Boston.
The Dodgers barely survived the Milwaukee Brewers, winning the series in seven games to represent the National League in the biggest series in baseball. On the other hand, the Red Sox are coming off a 4-1 series win over the Houston Astros to win the American League.
The Dodgers are looking to win their first World Series since 1988. They came close last season but they lost to the Houston Astros in seven games. This time around, the Dodgers hope their second straight World Series appearance will have a different ending. That will be a tough task though against the team which topped the Major League Baseball team standings during the regular season.
Clayton Kershaw will open the World Series for the Dodgers despite pitching in Saturday’s National League Championship Series Game 7 against the Brewers. The 30 year old left hander threw just 15 pitches in that game, equivalent to a bullpen session so he should be ready to go in this contest. Kershaw has pitched four games this postseason and has given up six runs on 11 hits with four walks and 16 strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched. The Dallas, Texas native started two games and made one relief appearance during last year’s World Series against the Astros, finishing with an ERA of 4.02 in 15.2 innings of work.
Chris Taylor leads the Dodgers with his .360 batting average with one homerun and 3 RBIs while Manny Machado has three home runs and nine RBIs in the playoffs.Yasiel Puig is hitting .333 with one homer and four RBIs.
After losing Game 1 of the American League Championship Series to the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox asserted their might and won four straight games with an aggregate score of 27-14 to advance to the World Series for the third time since 2007. Now on a roll, the Red Sox hope to make it five in a row and draw first blood in the 2018 World Series.
Chris Sale will start on top of the mound for the Red Sox on Tuesday. The 29 year old left hander has pitched in three games in the playoffs with two stats. He has given up four runs on six hits with six walks and 14 strikeouts in a total of 10.1 innings of work. Sale was supposed to start for the Red Sox in Game 5 against the Astros but was scratched after he was hospitalized with a stomach illness. He would have pitched had that series went to Game 6 but instead will open the 2018 World Series for Boston.
Rafael Devers is Boston’s top hitter in the postseason with a .350 batting average. Meanwhile JD Martinez has two home runs and 9 RBIs while batting .333 and Jackie Bradley Jr. has two homers and 9 RBIs as well.
Los Angeles is 11-4 SU in their last 15 games played and 6-3 SU in their last 9 games on the road. On the other hand, Boston is 6-1 SU in their last 7 games played and 15-8 SU in their last 23 games at their home field. Head to head, Boston has won seven out of the last 10 meetings between these two teams and are 5-1 SU at home against the Dodgers.
Chris Sale has given up four runs on six hits in 10.1 innings pitched this postseason. Those numbers may not be too sexy but if you realize that he pitched two games against the New York Yankees and one against the Houston Astros, both of which are powerhouse teams. Kershaw is having a good postseason with six runs on 11 hits in 19.0 innings pitched. But my concern is that the Dodgers are hitting only .207 with six runs including 3 home runs in 116 at bats versus left handed pitchers in the 2018 postseason. On the other side, the Red Sox have been averaging 6.2 runs per game in their nine playoff games this year.I think offense makes the difference here. We’re picking the Boston Red Sox to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series.
The Dodgers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games played and 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games on the road. On the other hand, the Red Sox are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games played but are only 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games played at Fenway Park. Head to head, Boston is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against Los Angeles.
The Red Sox average winning margin in their 7 playoff wins this year is 4.29 runs with only two of those wins coming by less than two runs. Those games were against the Yankees who we know have explosive offense. The Dodgers don’t have the same amount of firepower as New York. Prediction: Red Sox -1.5
The total has gone under in 4 out of the last 6 games for the Dodgers while the total has gone over in 4 out of the last 5 games played by the Red Sox and the total is also 8-1 in the last 9 home games played by Boston. Against each other, the total has gone under in 4 out of the last 6 games played at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox are averaging 6.2 runs per game in the 2018 postseason and have scored at least 7 runs in four out of their 7 playoff wins. On the other hand, the Dodgers are averaging 3.91 runs per game in 11 playoff games. No one has yet to stop the Boston offense in the playoffs and I think they will continue to pour in the points here. The total has laos gone over in four out of the last five playoff games of Boston, making the over the smart bet here. Prediction: Over 7.5
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