MLB Best Bet: Monday, April 18th

The Braves and the Dodgers are getting used to meeting in the playoffs but they’ll play the first of two regular-season series’ to start this week. The two clubs will meet again in June for a 3-game set in Atlanta but our resident MLB expert Ej Garr will find us the best bet to make for the first game of this 3-game series between Los Angeles and Atlanta.

MLB Best Bet April 18th:

• Los Angeles vs Atlanta: Dodgers Team Total Over 4.5 Runs

Odds as of 9 am April 18, 2022. Odds may now differ.

Los Angeles vs Atlanta Best Bet

Tuesday, 03:10 UK time

The LA Dodgers lost 2 of their first 3 games in their series with Colorado to open the 2022 campaign, but they have since reeled off 6 straight wins headed towards tonight’s contest. The Dodgers took a pair of wins from the Twins before sweeping the Reds in a 4-game set that concluded on Sunday with a convincing 9 – 1 win.

Los Angeles has yet to surrender more than 4 runs in any of their first 9 games of the new season and the 4-game series against the Reds really showed how good this rotation is. Not like anyone hadn’t already heard that the Dodgers’ starting pitching is stellar and now they get back Clayton Kershaw for another year if he stays healthy? The Reds were held to a total of 7 runs in 4 days against the Dodgers and we know Freddie Freeman circled this date on the calendar in his locker. Freeman was 3 for 4 in Sunday’s win hoping his bat stays hot for at least 3 more days.

After Walker Buehler got the opening day start he still told the media that Kershaw will be the ace of this staff until he takes off the 22 blue and white jersey. Buehler is scheduled to once again follow up Kershaw in the rotation and if these two stay healthy they can certainly help the Dodgers reach the post-season again, if not more.

Kershaw will head to the mound set to make his second start of the 2022 campaign which is also his first at home in 2022. All he did in his first start of the season was pitch 7 perfect innings on the road against the Twins with 13 strikeouts, pfft, no biggie‽ Of course, getting taken out of the game got all of the pundits and journalists wondering why any manager would pull someone in that was hurling a perfecto but most of us understand why Robers went to the bullpen to close out the game.

If you recall, Kershaw missed last year’s post-season and he had to just watch the team losing to the Braves in the NLCS as Atlanta went on to hoist the final piece of hardware to boot. Coming out of the gate tossing 80 pitches in his first start was not the expectation for Kershaw but Dave Roberts certainly wanted to give him as much of a leash as he could. Roberts had to literally listen to the media question his decision to pull Kershaw but the season is long and they will need him to be a factor in October.

The Braves have yet to find any consistency in 2022 after splitting their opening 4-game series with the Reds. Atlanta then lost 2 of 3 games to the Nationals before making this 7-game road trip to the west coast to play 4 games with San Diego and this trio of affairs with the Dodgers. After losing the opening game of the 4-game set with San Diego, the Braves earned a pair of wins before featuring in the Sunday Night Game of the Week on ESPN. A 2 – 1 loss left the Braves with a 5 – 6 to start the year and they are heavy underdogs tonight in Los Angeles.

Huascar Ynoa will be making his second start of the season although he was only able to stretch his first start to 3 innings in an eventual 11 – 2 loss to the Nationals. The outing left his ERA at an inflated 15.00 as he still hopes to stay in the Braves rotation. Ynoa made 17 starts a season ago but he was only asked to pitch a single post-season inning en route to the World Series win for the Braves.

The Braves have yet to enjoy a single day off since opening the 2022 campaign and I don’t trust Ynoa nor the Braves bullpen to hold the Dodgers under 5 runs in their ballpark to start this series.

• Selection: LA Dodgers Over 4.5 Runs
• Best Odds:1.90 Pinnacle
• Stakes: 4/10

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