Don’t let the Los Angeles Dodgers get hot! The defending World Series champions have reached the halfway point of their season, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, they’re tied for the best record in baseball with a 50-31 record after winning eight of their last 10 games. Los Angeles has done all this despite currently having 13 pitchers on the injured list, including former Cy Young winner Blake Snell and top prospect Roki Sasaki.
This afternoon, the Dodgers will be going for a sweep against the cellar-dwelling Colorado Rockies, who, after a recent stretch of hot form, need to go 21-61 from here on out to escape the ignominy of the worst regular season in modern baseball history.
The matinée will be a battle of southpaws at a mile high: Los Angeles will start future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, while Colorado will send Austin Gomber to the mound.
Let’s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies prediction, preview
Both teams brought the fireworks in the first game of the series, scoring a total of 16 runs as the Dodgers got to Gérman Márquez for six runs (all unearned) in four innings and the Rockies managed to force Anthony Banda into three earned runs against just two outs. Last night, a rain delay ended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s night early after five shutout innings before Max Muncy sealed the deal with six RBI’s in the sixth and seventh innings to turn a 1-0 edge into an 8-1 rout. I like the potential for offense with no rain scheduled in Denver today; so far in June, Colorado and Los Angeles have had the fourth- and fifth-best offenses, respectively.
To be fair, Kershaw hasn’t been liable for much offense recently. Over his last three starts, the 37-year-old has pitched 17 innings and given up three runs on 14 hits, three walks, and 16 strikeouts, offering shades of his prime form. His fastball velocity is way down — he rarely even touches 90 miles per hour nowadays after regularly sitting north of 95 in his prime — and he ranks in the first percentile in hard-hit percentage and average exit velocity. However, because he relies so much on his slider and his signature soap-bubble curve, he’s been above-average at producing ground balls, allowing him to stay effective.
Gomber hasn’t been in his two starts so far in 2025. The 31-year-old has been shelled in his 9.2 innings of work, giving up nine runs on 14 hits and two walks, one season after leading the National League in home runs conceded. To be fair to Gomber, all of that damage came in his most recent start, when he gave up nine runs and 12 hits in 4.2 innings of work at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but if the Diamondbacks can get to him at a mile high, so can the Dodgers. Despite having a lefty superstar duo in Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles has still posted the league’s fourth-best OPS this season against southpaws.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies pick, best bet
Best Bet: Teoscar Hernández O2.5 Total Bases (+110)
Hernández has managed three or more total bases in two of his last three games, including a two-hit, one-double performance in the series opener on Tuesday. The Dominican has mashed southpaws this season, posting a 1.188 OPS in 52 plate appearances, and while he whiffs too much, Gomber simply doesn’t miss bats.
Strong Lean: Clayton Kershaw to Record a Win (+140)
Picking Kershaw to record his fourth win in a row might be bold, given that his FIP figure is nearly a full point worse than his ERA, indicating that he’s due for some regression. He also hasn’t recorded wins in four straight starts since April 2023, the last season in which he made an All-Star appearance. Still, the difference between these teams is massive and as long as Kershaw lasts five innings, I trust the offense to get the job done.
