The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers wrap up their three-game series on Sunday Night Baseball, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Dodgers won the first game of the series 3-0 Friday before the Cubs stormed back Saturday with a dominant 16-0 showing, scoring 15 of those runs after the fifth inning. Los Angeles will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound in this rubber match, while Chicago will counter with Colin Rea.
The Dodgers are -265 favorites (risk $265 to win $100) on the money line, while the Cubs are +214 (risk $100 to win $214) underdogs in the latest SportsLine consensus odds. The total is set at 8.5, with the Under priced at +101.
Angelo Magliocca, a regular contributor to The Early Edge and CBS Sports HQ, is a seasoned MLB handicapper up 123.5 units over the last three MLB seasons. He’s put together a three-leg parlay at DraftKings Sportsbook for Sunday Night Baseball, with one of the legs counting on Los Angeles to bounce back offensively after Saturday’s debacle. You can view all expert picks for Cubs-Dodgers, as well as other MLB games, only at SportsLine.
Cubs vs. Dodgers SGP (+202 on DraftKings)
Shohei Ohtani 2+ bases
Thanks to the score Saturday, Ohtani was pulled from the game before his final at-bat, and despite only coming away with one hit, he smashed a ground ball at 105 mph and hit another ball to the right field wall for a flyout. A couple of close misses and hard-hit balls confirm he is feeling good at the plate, setting the stage to take advantage of Rea Sunday night. The last time these two faced off was August of last year in Milwaukee when Ohtani jumped on the first pitch of the game, hitting it with an exit velocity of 105 mph but coming away with a flyout to center field. Rea was not as lucky in his next at-bat, however, as Ohtani launched a ball into the second deck in right field at 110 mph exit velocity. The rest of the Dodgers lineup went on to pound Rea for 10 hits and seven earned runs that day, including four home runs in six innings of work.
Tyler Glasnow 2+ walks allowed
Glasnow gets the spotlight. He’s struggled with his command so far, walking eight batters in seven innings across two starts so far this year. While I could see him focusing on fixing those issues in this start, if he lasts six innings like the projections think he will, there’s a good chance he walks at least two batters from this Cubs side. Chicago features the league’s fourth-best walk rate against right-handed pitching. With quite a few hitters in this lineup having no experience against Glasnow, I would not be surprised if the Cubs are taking more pitches and looking to see what he has to offer before taking the bat off their shoulder. Only a momentary lapse in command could lead to a couple of walks, and I have the current -180 price on a second walk as showing value here.
Dodgers team total Over 3.5 runs
For this parlay, we’re honing in on the L.A. offense against Rea, including Ohtani to record 2+ total bases, and the Dodgers team total Over 3.5 runs. The odds for Ohtani’s home run are rather low (as always), but I’m also going to have a small ticket with the same parlay that includes the home run instead of just two total bases. With how hard he’s been hitting the ball and Rea’s track record of 50% hard contact allowed vs. lefties, the home run is firmly in play, in my opinion. The rest of these Dodgers bats will need to step up and help avoid losing this series. One guy to note is Will Smith, who will almost certainly be in the lineup after Austin Barnes got the start Saturday. Smith had a home run against Rea the last time they faced off, so having him back in the lineup helps bring some extra confidence to L.A.’s run production. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are both back in the lineup as well, so a few hits and walks put together could get us to a fourth run quickly thanks to the depth of this lineup.
Read the full article here
