It’s October. That means that the Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series are upon us. Las Vegas oddsmakers see the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Cleveland Indians in the Fall Classic. Los Angeles should face Washington in the National League Championship Series and Houston could go up against the Indians in the American League Championship Series.
Early odds and predictions
Westgate Las Vegas Super Book see the Indians, who have a 30.8 percent chance of appearing, beating the Dodgers, who are 28.6 percent likely to represent the National League and win the World Series.
Accuscore odds favor the Houston Astros by 18 percent over Los Angeles (14.1). These lines came out before the first pitch of the division series. Odds can change each day.
Bovada odds were Dodgers +333, Indians +333, Houston +500, Nationals +700, Red Sox +800, Chicago +800, New York +900, and Arizona +900. What this means is, a $10 bet on the Nats would pay $70 if they won the World Series.
The focus now is on the respective division series in each league. The games opened on Oct. 5 with the Boston Red Sox at the Houston Astros. The line favored the ’stros and Houston won 8-2. The New York Yankees headed to Cleveland that night. Vegas sees the Tribe as the best bet to win the series and the Indians won 4-0.
Nats will survive
National League action gets underway Oct. 6 with the Washington Nationals hosting the Chicago Cubs. Even though the Cubs are the defending champs, the Nats have never won a playoff series and Bryce Harper is only four for 23 since returning from the DL in September. Vegas picks Washington to win the series.
Westgate has the Nats/Cubs at pick 'em, and Accuscore gives the edge to Washington.
The Diamondbacks visit LA to open that division series. Most see Arizona as a huge underdog. Westgate projected the D-backs with a 6.7 percent chance of winning it all. Accuscore gave them an 8 percent chance. Both services expected the Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins to fail in the play-in games.
Game two of the American League Division Series continues. Several experts believe each series will go the complete five games before division opponents are announced. If that’s the case, fans will see the ALDS through Oct. 11 and NLDS until Oct. 12.
Several playoff clubs helped themselves with acquisitions during the latter part of the season. J.D. Martinez hit 29 home runs for the Diamondbacks since joining the club on July 29. He also hit .302/.366/.741. Jason Verlander is 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA, .65 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 34 innings as an Astro. On the other hand, Yu Darvish pitched less than 50 innings in nine starts since joining the Dodgers, and Sonny Gray is 4-7 with the Yankees in 11 starts.
