Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox World Series Game 1 Preview
The 2018 MLB World Series has the potential to be a good one. We have two good offenses and pitching staff’s capable of putting up small numbers. It all starts tonight.
The Los Angeles Dodgers clash with the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. Clayton Kershaw will take the hill for the Dodgers while the Red Sox give the ball to Chris Sale.
Los Angeles won two out of three in an inter-league series against Boston in 2016.
Tuesday, October 23 at 8:09 PM ET on FOX.
Fenway Park
Mostly Cloudy 54°F
Wind: 5mph and blowing out
Odds: Red Sox are -165-moneyline favorites. The total is 7.5 Under -125.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw will make his fourth postseason appearance (third start). The left-hander closed out Game 7 of the NLCS against the Brewers with a scoreless ninth inning last Saturday.
Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA and an 0.79 WHIP in four appearances (three starts) over 19 innings. He has allowed six runs (five earned), recording 16 strikeouts and just four walks.
He pitched well in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Brewers, giving up just one earned run on three hits and two walks. He had nine strikeouts over seven innings in a 5-2 win and this will be his first career appearance against the Red Sox.
The Dodgers’ ace is 9-8 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 141 innings in 28 postseason games (22 starts).
Manny Machado is very familiar with the Red Sox. He spent seven seasons with the Orioles.
Machado went 10-for-36 with seven RBIs against the Red Sox this season and he has a .277 batting average with 52 RBIs in 95 career games against them.
The star shortstop has also fared well against Chris Sale. He has gone 6-for-19 with two doubles, one home run and two RBIs. He leads the Dodgers with three home runs and nine RBIs in 11 postseason games.
Boston Red Sox
Chris Sale will make his fourth postseason appearance (third start). He was supposed to start Game 5 of the ALCS against the Astros but he was dealing with an illness that kept him out.
He didn’t have his best stuff in Game 1 of the ALCS, allowing two earned runs on one hit with four walks and five strikeouts over four innings to get a no-decision in a 7-2 loss.
He did pitch well in Game 1 of the ALDS. He holding the Yankees to two earned runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a 5-4 win.
Sale hasn’t faced the Dodgers since 2012. He’s given up seven earned runs in six career innings against them.
J.D. Martinez came on strong in games 3-5 of the ALCS against the Astros. He went 5-for-11 with one home run and three RBIs.
Martinez is having an outstanding postseason. He is hitting .313 with two home runs and nine RBIs and he hit five home runs with eight RBIs in 34 at-bats against the Dodgers from 2015 to 2017.
World Series Game 1 Pick
Runs should be at a premium in the first five innings of this game. This will mark the first time many of the hitters on both sides have seen Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale.
This is an advantage to the pitchers. Kershaw has a 2.37 ERA over 19 innings in this postseason and Sale has given up two or fewer runs in his two postseason starts. Look for a pitching duel to start the 2018 MLB World Series.
MLB Pick: 1st 5 Innings Under 3.5 (-105) at Jazz Sports
Check odds here: https://goo.gl/dVwAAb
Odds as seen on ESPN Chalk: https://ac.topaffiliates.net/adcenter?bannercode=JAZZ000&affiliatecode=0CB7FE&campaign=0&p=h
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