The Los Angels Dodgers swoon hit rock-bottom on Saturday night in a 15-0 shellacking at the hands of the arch rival San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers now look to silence San Fran’s red-hot bats and avoid a sweep on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch from Dodger Stadium set for 4:10 p.m. ET. The Giants will send ace Logan Webb (5-6, 3.15 ERA) to the mound, while L.A. counters with Tony Gonsolin (4-1, 1.93).
The Dodgers still enter as -125 favorites on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with San Francisco at +105. The run total is set at 8.5.
Giants-Dodgers picks: Sunday, June 18
Injury report
San Francisco
Out: INF Wilmer Flores (foot), RP John Brebbia (lat), OF Mitch Haniger (forearm), OF Luis Gonzalez (back), OF Heliot Ramos (oblique), SP/RP Ross Stripling (back)
Los Angeles
Day to day: UTIL Chris Taylor (knee), OF David Peralta (hamstring)
Out: SP Julio Urias (hamstring), INF Max Muncy (hamstring), SP Noah Syndergaard (finger), RP Jimmy Nelson (elbow), RP Daniel Hudson (knee), Phil Bickford (back), SP Dustin May (forearm), OF Trayce Thompson (oblique)
Starting pitchers
Logan Webb vs. Tony Gonsolin
Webb hasn’t been his sharpest in June, with 10 runs allowed across three starts this month. He’s still managed to go 19.1 innings over that span, though, and he remains one of the league’s premier workhorses: the righty has pitched less than six innings just twice in 14 outings this year, and this recent rough patch came after a stretch in which he allowed two or fewer runs in seven consecutive starts. Webb’s sinker remains a very effective weapon, helping him produce a gaudy 60.4% ground ball rate, while his changeup and slider are both returning whiff rates north of 30%. He faced the Dodgers back in early April, allowing four runs (just one of which was earned) on five hits and a walk in six innings.
Gonsolin has been a life-saver for a Dodgers rotation that’s been hit hard by injuries this season. The righty had the start of his year delayed by an ankle injury, but he’s been great since making his debut, allowing more than one run in just two of his nine starts. Gonsolin is coming off arguably his best outing of the year, firing six shutout innings while allowing just two hits to the Chicago White Sox earlier this week. It’s worth noting that Gonsolin hasn’t been striking very many batters out, and there are some signs that regression is coming — namely a .172 BABIP, 80.2% strand rate and 4.13 expected ERA.
Over/Under pick
The Giants have been scalding at the plate of late — their 15 runs last night were the third time in their last six games they’ve cracked double-digits, averaging a whopping 9.67 runs per game over that span. Gonsolin has been very good this year, but he’s also been a bit lucky on all the balls in play he’s allowed, and I expect San Fran to get to him for at least two or three runs today. Given Webb’s recent trend of three or four runs allowed — plus how desperately the Dodgers need a win after the last two days — I think we can expect something like a 6-4 game that hits this over.
Pick: Over 8.5
Moneyline pick
The Giants offense is a fearsome unit right now, but Gonsolin has been throwing the ball the better of the two starters in this matchup, and eventually the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup is going to bust out. They have plenty of experience with Webb, and with L.A. desperately needing a win to keep pace with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West, I think Mookie Betts and Co. do enough to get it done.
Pick: Dodgers
