Padres vs. Dodgers Critical Game 5 Betting Preview

The San Diego Padres take on the LA Dodgers Friday night in this all important Game 5 of the NLDS.  The series is tied 2-2, and the winner moves on to the NLCS.

Los Angeles; Friday, 8:08 p.m. EDT - Dodgers -142, Padres +120; over/under is 8 runs.

PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.31 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 78 strikeouts); Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 105 strikeouts)

The LA Dodgers are just .195 in 266 at bats against Darvish.  To put this in better perspective, only Tommy Edman is betting better than .300 against him with 6 hits in 18 at bats and zero RBIs. 

Freddie Freeman has three of the eight home runs off of Darvish but has only hit 10 of 40 times at bat.

Padres career statistics vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto are .371 in 35 at bats.  They have 10 RBIs against him.

Winners and Whiners offered this prediction for Friday night's Game 5:

The San Diego Padres are in good shape despite not securing the series win in game four. They have piled on the runs throughout the postseason and have Yu Darvish on the mound. The Dodgers avoided elimination in game four but have been shaky on the mound except game four.

Furthermore, Yu Darvish dazzled in game two, keeping Los Angeles to one run in seven innings. He has only conceded five runs (four earned) in 22.2 innings against the rivals this season. Darvish has plenty of postseason experience. He issued a 2.88 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in the 2022 postseason and as mentioned, he dominated in game two. Manager Dave Roberts has announced it will be either Yamamoto, Flaherty, and the bullpen in game five. I am not confident in Yamamoto or Flaherty.

Yamamoto has been exploited by San Diego, squandering five runs in game one, and has given up 13 runs in nine innings against the rivals this season. Flaherty was rocked in his game two outing, conceding four runs in 5.1 innings. He has a subpar 4.15 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in his playoff career.