The Dodgers Are World Series Favorites, But Might Not Win One Game

A Wild, Wild Card

Even after running off 17 straight wins to clinch a spot in the NL Wild Card Game, the Cardinals enter Wild Card Wednesday on the road as underdogs

• 90-72 record

• Odds to win Wild Card game: +200

The defending champion Dodgers finished with baseball’s second-best record, but unfortunately were one game behind the Giants in the NL West

• 106-56 record

• Odds to win: -240

The Cardinals finished the season winning 22 of their final 30 games, the third-best finish in baseball. Unfortunately for them, the Dodgers were even better, with 23 wins over the same span

• Head-to-head: the Dodgers won the season series 4-3, taking two out of three games during the one series in LA

Championship Status

Despite facing a single-game elimination, the supercharged Dodgers have the best odds to win the World Series, while the Cardinals have the worst

• Dodgers: +330

• Giants: +450

• Rays: +475

• Astros: +500

• White Sox: +650

• Brewers: +725

• Red Sox: +775

• Braves: +1200

• Cardinals: +1700

If you think the Cardinals can make some noise with a deep playoff run, locking in a future on them today (before the Wild Card game) will get you the best bang for your buck

On the other hand, if the Dodgers win this game, their odds should fall, making them even bigger favorites. If you’re a Giants or Astros fan, hold off on any futures (for now) if you think LA pulls it out with Scherzer on the mound

Seasoned Vets On The Mound

The game’s pitching matchup features the best well-seasoned pitchers in the bigs

• Max Scherzer (37-years-old) posted the second-best ERA and had the second-most strikeouts of all starting NL pitchers

• Adam Wainwright (40-years-old) had the 2nd most wins in the NL

With such talented arms on the mound, tonight’s game should be a low-scoring one

• The total runs o/u is 7.5

• The total run o/u for the first five innings is 3.5, meaning Vegas expects slightly more action in the back half of the game

For My Parlay Gurus

Baseball parlays are extra fun when you include some wild player props. Here’s what we got on tap 👇

In 14 innings pitched against the Cardinals this season, Scherzer racked up 22 strikeouts

• Scherzer over 7.5 strikeouts: -125

The Dodgers are one of the best offensive teams in baseball. While Wainwright can bring it, I like LA to score within the first three innings

• Dodgers first three innings over 1 run: -135

Lastly, we’re taking Justin Turner to hit a HR (+390). The slugger finished the season with two HRs over his last four games

• All in, parlaying these three prop bets pays out $1,435

• That’s enough to get you a couple of Dodgers World Series tickets, assuming they make it there 😉