Game: Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers
Time: 8:08 PM ET
Starting Pitchers: Huascar Ynoa vs. Julio Urias
Odds: Braves +190, Dodgers -210
Former NL MVP Cody Bellinger would probably like to forget the 2021 MLB regular season. The postseason, on the other hand, is picking up for the Dodgers star. Bellinger brought Los Angeles back from what appeared to be a 3-0 Atlanta series lead when he hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning last night.
Bellinger’s blast tied the game at 5-5. Mookie Betts’ RBI double later in the inning proved to be the winning run and allowed the Dodgers to climb back in the series and cut the Braves lead to 2-1.
Now, the Dodgers will try and even the series up. They will turn to left-hander Julio Urias to do so. It’s a great choice too as Urias enjoyed his best season in the majors. He was the only 20-game winner in MLB and is currently 21-3 with a 2.99 ERA. The Dodgers have won each of Urias’ last 12 starts.
He started and won Game 2 of the NLDS against San Francisco. Urias pitched five innings, allowed three hits, and one earned run in the win over the Giants. In his last three starts covering 16.1 innings, Urias has allowed just two earned runs.
Urias will go up against Atlanta’s Huascar Ynoa who is making his first start of the postseason. Ynoa hasn’t started a game since Oct. 1 when he went five innings against the New York Mets. He allowed three earned runs and lost 4-3. The Braves were victorious in Ynoa’s previous two starts against San Diego and Arizona, but the Braves right-hander gave up a total of 10 earned runs in a combined 8.2 innings in those appearances.
Ynoa has not faced the Dodgers this season. Minus two bad starts against the Cubs (six earned runs) and Brewers (five earned runs), Ynoa allowed just 12 earned runs in his first 12 starts. Of those first 12 starts, seven of the game totals went Under. The problem is that Ynoa hasn’t pitched well since those first dozen starts.
He will go up against a Dodgers lineup that can explode at any time. Betts, who had last night’s game-winning RBI, is batting .412 in the postseason and Will Smith has jacked three home runs. Corey Seager is hitting just .222 in the playoffs, but he has two homers and is tied with Chris Taylor for the team lead in RBIs with six.
All three games in the series thus far have been decided by one run. The last two games have gone Over the total. Both games saw a posted total of 7.5. Tonight’s total is set at 8. The total has gone Over in Urias last two starts primarily because the Dodgers gave him plenty of run support. LA scored nine runs in the ALDS win over the Giants and eight in a win over Milwaukee on Oct. 2.