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After taking the first two games of this four-game series, the Dodgers go looking for more Saturday evening at Nationals Park. Los Angeles also now leads the season series with Washington five games to none. Veteran lefty Clay Kershaw shoots to make that 6-0 Saturday night for LA against young righty Paolo Espino for the Nats. How are we playing this game with our <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/free-mlb-picks&quot; title="Daily MLB Picks">MLB pick</a> for today?
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MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Saturday's baseball betting lines opened the Dodgers at around -250 for this game, with an over/under of 8.5. As of this writing, the best price we could find on Los Angeles was the -230 offered at <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/sportsbooks/betonline&quot; title="Bet MLB Dimelines at BetOnline">BetOnline</a>, while Washington was getting +220 at <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/sportsbooks/5dimes&quot; title="Dimeline Wagering For Non US bettor at 5Dimes">5Dimes</a>.
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<h2>
Dodgers-Nationals MLB Betting Preview<br />
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Los Angeles took the opener of this series Thursday night 6-2, a bullpen game for the Dodgers that only went five innings due to rain. LA then won Friday 10-6, coming from behind with nine runs off the Nationals bullpen. The Dodgers won as -140 favorites Thursday, then at -115 Friday, beating the run line both games. With Friday's victory, Los Angeles now owns a seven-game winning streak. At 51-31 overall, the Dodgers now trail division-leading San Francisco, by just a half-game in the NL West, and they lead the National League wild-card race by three games over second-place San Diego. LA is also on a pace to win 101 games while playing against its season wins over/under of 102.5, which was the highest number on that board. Washington, meanwhile, may have lost the first two games of this series, but going back a bit, the Nationals are 14-5 over their last 19 games. At 40-40 overall, Washington only trails the first-place Mets by 2.5 games in the NL East. The Nationals are also on a pace to win 81 games playing against their wins O/U of 84.5. As mentioned above, the Dodgers lead the season series with the Nats five games to none, with four of those wins coming by at least three runs, which is good for those run-line bets.
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Saturday's Pitching Match-Up<br />
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<a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/123967&quot; title="Paolo Espino Pitching Logs">Espino</a> is 0/3 on quality starts this season, to go along with 15 appearances in relief, but actually, he's been pretty darn good. Monday, he held the Mets scoreless on five hits through five frames of an 8-4 Nationals win, and over his last six appearances, he's allowed just three runs – two earned – and 15 hits through 17 1/3 innings, with just one walk against 14 strikeouts. Washington is 2-1 when Espino starts this year, 2-0 over his last two starts. This outing will be Espino's first-ever action against the Dodgers. By our strict standards, Lefty <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/39783&quot; title="Clayton Kershaw Pitching Stats">Kershaw</a> is 10/17 on quality starts this season and three for his last four. Last Saturday, he held the Cubs to one run and four hits through eight innings, with 13 strikeouts, in a 7-1 Los Angeles victory. And over his last four starts, he's allowed just seven runs – six earned – and 19 hits through 26 innings, with four walks and 38 whiffs. The Dodgers are 10-7 with Kershaw this year, although only 1-2 his last three times out. In his one previous start this season against the Nationals, Kershaw tossed six innings of five-hit, shutout ball in a 3-0 LA win back in April.
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<h2>
Splits With the Sticks<br />
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Los Angeles is batting .247 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .348 team OBP and a .424 team slugging percentage. This lineup is also about as healthy as it's been all season.
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Washington is slashing .259/.339/.408 against left-handed pitching this season. Numbers like those lead us to rank this lineup in the top quartile in Baseball in this split. But both Kyle Schwarber (25 HR this season) and Trea Turner (.318) are listed as questionable for at least this game due to recent injuries.
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<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1359531">LAD/WAS 7/3/21 Game Matchup Stats</a></span>
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The Dodgers bullpen owns a 3.54 ERA this season, along with a 1.27 WHIP and a 2.30 K/BB ratio. The Washington pen owns a 4.19 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a 2.56 K/BB ratio.
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MLB Betting Trends<br />
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The Dodgers are 23-18 on the road this season.
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The Nationals are 24-24 at home this season.
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The Dodgers are 36-22 against right-handed starters this season.
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The Nationals are 10-12 against left-handed starters this season.
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Totals Report<br />
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Overs are 40-39 in Dodgers games this season. Unders are a lopsided 51-26 in Nationals games this season. Unders are 32-13 in games played at Nationals Park this season.
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