The Bay Area typically presents some great matchups on the NFL odds but this year, there won’t be any California teams factoring too much on the Super Bowl odds. Instead, we’ll get the baseball version of the Bay Area matchup as the Los Angeles Dodgers – with Manny Ramirez back in the lineup – will head to San Diego for a weekend series. San Diego Padres @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Saturday, 4:10 PM ET
Randy Wolf vs Josh Geer
Randy Wolf will take the mound for the Dodgers on Saturday and sports betting sharps should take note that he has actually pitched better on the road this season than away. At home, Wolf is 0-1 with a 4.04 ERA but on the road, he’s 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA. Wolf has a sparkling WHIP of 1.18, which shows that he’s really keeping runners off the base paths, but that low number drops even further, to 1.12 when he’s on the road.
He’ll take on Josh Geer, who has been up and down this year.
Geer has yet to post an ERA lower than 5.10 in anything month and finished June with an ERA of 6.46.
The good news is that he’s been semi-reliable over his last three starts (4.26 ERA over that span).
Baseball pick: Dodgers
San Diego Padres @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Sunday, 4:05 PM ET
Chad Billingsley vs Josh Banks
The Dodgers will send their ace, Chad Billingsley to the mound on Sunday as he aims for his 10th win of the season. He’ll take on Josh Banks, who will be making just his second start of the season.
The 26-year-old Banks did last seven innings in his first start on Tuesday and gave up just three earned runs. On the season, though, there is too little of a sample to gauge just how effective he really is.
Billingsley, on the other hand, is the Dodgers unquestioned ace. So far this season, he is 3-1 on the road with a 2.85 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting just .217 against him when he’s away from home.
Billingsley has three starts against the Padres this year and all three have resulted in wins. He’s allowed just 14 hits in 18.2 innings pitched while allowing seven runs in that time (3.38 ERA).
Sports pick: Dodgers
