MLB betting: Should you bet the Under for Game 2 of Seoul Series?
The two-game series in Seoul between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres is already underway, but anticipation from fans and bettors alike is on the rise ahead because of the pitching duel set up for Game 2.
Veteran right-hander Joe Musgrove gets the start for the Padres, who are looking to avenge a 5-2 loss in Game 1. He will be facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the early betting favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year and perhaps the Dodgers' biggest off-season acquisition outside of Shohei Ohtani. With these two set to trade off taking the mound, oddsmakers are projecting a low-scoring game for the wee hours of Thursday morning. As such, DraftKings is favoring under nine runs to be scored for a -115 payout, with the Over priced at +125.
Before you put your money down on the Under, however, you should have some background on how each of these starters is looking heading into this highly-anticipated game.
It should be noted that both are coming off of rough showings in spring training. Musgrove, who won a World Series with the Houston Astros in 2017 and was an All-Star as a Padre in 2022, went 1-2 in three preseason starts with a ballooned 13.50 ERA and no strikeouts through six innings pitched. Musgrove insisted in a recent interview that the start hasn't wavered his confidence.
"I feel like I've always been somebody who finds my stuff and sharpens up as games go, as the season goes," he told 97.3 The Fan. "The more game reps I get, I feel that's when I make the best adjustments throughout the course of games."
While spring training is certainly about tuning things up for the season ahead, that is a scary earned run average for the 31-year-old Southern California native.
Things aren't much better for Yamamoto. The Dodgers have gotten a ton of praise for getting the Japanese ace, who had a 1.21 ERA and 169 strikeouts through 23 games played in the Japan Pacific League last year However, he registered an 8.38 ERA with nine earned runs through three starts in spring training, striking out 15 but giving up 14 hits.
Dave Roberts and the rest of the Dodgers are reportedly not worried about Yamamoto in the long run, which is understandable after just a few outings in spring training. But what about in his MLB debut against a division rival with a stacked batting lineup?
That's the other thing. Both of these teams ranked in the top 20 in the league in hits, home runs and batting averages last season.
And if neither starter on Thursday can make it deep into the game? San Diego's bullpen had a collective ERA of 3.75 in 2023, while Los Angeles' bullpen registered a 4.07 ERA.
Sure, baseball scores over nine runs aren't the most common once the regular season gets underway. But given how iffy the Dodgers and Padres starters looked heading into this matchup — not to mention the other factors involved — this may be a bet you want to stay away from if you want to wager on the second game in Seoul.
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