San Francisco at Los Angeles

I had the Dodgers on the moneyline and the total last night, and it wasn't competitive for long. Los Angeles led by just a run into the eighth before pulling away, scoring five in that inning and rolling to an 8-2 win over this same San Francisco club. Tonight's the rematch, and if anything the mound matchup tilts even further in the Dodgers' favor. Tarik Skubal takes the ball off maybe his best stretch since the August trade that brought him to Los Angeles, a 2.70 ERA on the season and, last time out, nine strikeouts and no earned runs allowed across seven innings. San Francisco still hasn't named a starter for tonight, and that uncertainty sits on top of a pitching staff that's already allowed more than four and a half runs a game as a team this season. The Giants are 64-92 with nothing left to play for in the season's final stretch, while the Dodgers sit at 94-61, one of the best records in baseball, with a lineup averaging just under five runs a night. Skubal shutting down San Francisco's bats doesn't work against tonight's total; it works for it. The runs in this one will come from the Dodgers' own lineup against a shaky Giants staff, the same formula that produced eight runs by itself last night against a total that opened well above where tonight's number sits. Take Los Angeles on the moneyline and the OVER tonight, too.