The Los Angeles Dodgers finally saw their winning streak snapped over the weekend, but L.A. finished strong with a doubleheader sweep of the Marlins and will now look to make it three in a row as they kick off a series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. The Dodgers will send rookie Bobby Miller (7-2, 3.70 ERA) to the mound against old friend Noah Syndergaard (1-4, 7.16) whom the team dealt to Cleveland earlier this summer in exchange for Amed Rosario.
L.A. enters as -198 favorites on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the Guardians at +164. The run total is set at 8.5.
Dodgers-Guardians picks: Tuesday, August 22nd
Injury report
Dodgers
Day to day: OF Jason Heyward (hip)
Out: SP Tony Gonsolin (forearm), RP Joe Kelly (elbow), RP Yency Almonte (knee), SP Michael Grove (lat), OF Jonny Deluca (hamstring)
Guardians
Out: C Cam Gallagher (concussion), SP Cal Quantrill (shoulder), 1B Josh Naylor (oblique), 1B/C David Fry (hamstring), SP Shane Bieber (elbow), SP Triston McKenzie (elbow)
Starting pitchers
Bobby Miller vs. Noah Syndergaard
Miller has been much better in August than July, with the top prospect allowing just two earned runs on 11 hits over 15.2 innings across three starts this month. His high-90s gas doesn’t miss as many bats as it feels like it should, but his slider and curveball are both wicked — when he commands them, that is. He can often find too much of the plate, with a 4.64 ERA in July and 3+ earned runs allowed in three of his four starts that month.
Syndergaard was disastrous for the Dodgers prior to being dealt earlier this summer, and things haven’t gone a ton better for him in Cleveland: The righty allowed one run over 5.1 innings against the Blue Jays a couple weeks ago, but that was more batted-ball luck than anything; Syndergaard gave up 11 runs in his other two starts this month, and he’s struck out just 11 batters in 16 innings. His fastball velocity is well down from last year — not to mention his Mets peak — and he has whiff and K rates in the bottom three percent of the league.
Over/Under pick
Los Angeles has a top-five offense this month, and they have the book on Syndergaard from their time with him earlier this season. Thor has been awfully flammable of late, and the Dodgers stand a half-decent chance of clearing this over all by themselves. If Cleveland can contribute just two or three runs to the total — pretty likely, given Miller’s inability to go deep into games of late — we should be in good shape.
Pick: Over 8.5
Moneyline pick
Cleveland is fully in a youth movement, both by necessity and by choice as they look towards 2024, and the Dodgers have an overwhelming advantage at the plate and on the mound in this one.
Pick: Dodgers
