The Los Angeles rivalry gets its first series completed on Sunday afternoon as the Dodgers go for the sweep on the road at the Angels. The Dodgers send rookie right-hander Dustin May (1-1, 2.75) to the mound against Angels veteran right-hander Julio Teheran (0-1, 13.50).
The Dodgers took the opener 7-4 on Friday night, then rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Saturday night. Last season the Angels won all four games against the Dodgers by a combined score of 18-12. The Dodgers’ last series win at Angels Stadium came in September of 2015 as they won two of three.
Los Angeles Dodgers Outlook: Keep Mashing
The 15-7 Dodgers are the NL favorites to head to the World Series, and, sitting atop the NL West Division standings, they’ve shown no reason to doubt them. The Dodgers lead the National League with 39 homers and 120 runs scored and also lead the league with a 2.40 team ERA.
Reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger is starting to heat up with a two-homer game on Friday, while Mookie Betts has five home runs this week. Betts is batting .309/.371/.679 with eight homers, while AJ Pollock has five long balls to go with a .292/.352/.600 line.
The Dodgers’ bullpen has been lights out as Blake Treinen, Dylan Florio, Jake McGee, Joe Kelly, Scott Alexander, and closer Kenley Jansen have combined to allow just three earned runs in over 50 innings of work.
May, a young fireballer, makes his fifth appearance of the season with 17 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings. He lost against San Diego on Monday, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings. This will be his first career outing against the Angels.
Los Angeles Angels Outlook: Throw Strikes
The Angels have the best player in baseball, and Mike Trout moved into a tie atop the home run leaderboard for the league on Saturday night with his ninth of the season. Trout has eight homers in 11 games since his son Beckham was born and overall is at .304/.359/.710. The problem is he is getting little help outside infielder David Fletcher (.306/.378/.482).
Newcomer Anthony Rendon has five homers but is batting just .196, while outfielder Justin Upton is batting .107, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is batting .200 with four homers, and Albert Pujols is batting .186 with three homers. The next long ball for Pujols will be the 660th of his Hall of Famer career, tying him with Willie Mays for fifth on the career list.
Teheran makes his third start in an Angels uniform, and the first two have not gone according to plan, with seven runs allowed on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. He hasn’t lasted past the third inning in either of those outings, and his command has been suspect.
Teheran last faced the Dodgers in 2017 with the Braves and hasn’t earned a win against them in eight career starts while posting a 5.33 ERA and suffering six losses.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels Betting Lines
- Los Angeles Dodgers to win: -185
- Los Angeles Angels to win: +155
- Over/Under: 9.5 runs (O -110, U -105)
Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager has three career homers off Teheran, while Betts is batting .400 against the Angels starter. Look for the Dodgers to score early and often before turning the game over to a lights-out bullpen as they go for the sweep.
The Angels need to get to May early before he can settle in and try to outslug the Dodgers to avoid a sweep.
FREE PICK: Over 9.5 runs (-110)
