Mets vs. Dodgers NLCS Game 1 Prediction: Odds, expert picks, pitching matchup, betting trends and stats

Despite being two of the top three players in baseball, neither the Mets nor the Dodgers come to Chavez Ravine for the Natinal League Championship Series without overcoming major adversity. May 29th^Th The Mets were defeated by the Dodgers at Citi Field, falling to 22-33 overall. That was the 5th^Th worst record in baseball. They seemed to be in disarray, looking ahead to the four months of the season left, when suddenly Grimace showed up, Francisco Lindor moved to the top of the lineup, and OMG, the Mets got rolling. They finished the season 67-40, the best mark in all of baseball, and qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. Pete Alonso led the Mets to two Wild Card wins against the Milwaukee Brewers and Francisco Lindor helped the team to a division series victory against Philadelphia.

The Dodgers entered the playoffs as the top seed in the National League and earned the win because the following pitchers were sidelined for large portions of the season: Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Gavin Stone. Yamamoto missed July and August but returned in September and was brilliant in Game 5 of the LA series against the Padres, throwing 5 innings of 2 hits and shutout ball. Mookie Betts also missed a few months, but LA’s lineup was stacked for most of the season and in the end, the Dodgers found enough weapons to combine with those sluggers to continue dominating the regular season in the National League, like they have been doing it for the last few years.

New York and Los Angeles will meet for the National League pennant starting Sunday.

There are so many angles for bettors. Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.

We have all the information and analysis you need to know before the game, including the latest on how to catch the first pitch, the scheduled pitching matchup, current team performance, player stats and of course our predictions, tips & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and our team of experts.

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Game details and how to watch Mets @ Dodgers – NLCS Game 1

● Date: Sunday, October 13, 2024
● Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
● Website: Dodger Stadium
● City: Los Angeles, California
● TV/Streaming: FOX

Don’t miss a second of the action and stay up to date with the latest team stats and player news. Check out our daily routine MLB schedule pagealong with detailed matchup pages that are updated live in-game with every out.

Mets @ Dodgers – NLCS Game 1 Odds

The latest odds from Saturday evening:

● Money line: New York Mets (+135), Los Angeles Dodgers (-160)
● Spread: Mets +1.5 (-160), Dodgers -1.5 (+135)
● In total: 8

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Likely starting players for Mets @ Dodgers – NLCS Game 1

● Pitching matchup on Sunday (October 13): Kodai Senga vs Jack Flaherty

○ Mets: Senga – Gave up 1 run in 2 innings against the Phillies in his only start so far this postseason. Only played and started one other game this season. July 26th^Th Against Atlanta, Senga pitched 5.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 9 Braves hitters.

○ Dodgers: Flaherty – Started and lost his only start in the division series against the Padres, giving up 5 hits and 4 earned runs over 5.1 innings. Flaherty was acquired from Detroit by the Dodgers at the deadline this season and was 6-2 for LA in the regular season with a 3.58 ERA over 55.1 innings.

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Top betting trends and insights to know ahead of Mets @ Dodgers – NLCS Game 1

• The Dodgers’ bullpen has thrown 24 consecutive scoreless innings and owns a 2.49 ERA in 21.1 postseason innings.
• LA won the season series 4 games to 2, but had not met since the end of May.
• This is the 4th^Th Postseason meeting between the Dodgers and the Mets. LA won the NLCS in 1988, while the Mets won the division series in 2006 and 2018.
• Francisco Lindor is 5-15 (.333) in his last three NLDS games against Philadelphia.
• Mark Vientos is hitting .429 this postseason.
• Shohei Ohtani is 4-20 (.200) with 10 strikeouts in the playoffs.

Playoff history for New York and Los Angeles

• Mets: New York now has an overall record of 57-42 in postseason history. They won the World Series in 1969 and 1986. They lost the Series in 2000 (Yankees) and 2015 (Royals).
• Dodgers: LA owns an all-time playoff record of 11,552-10,211. They have won 7 World Series titles – 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988 and 2020.

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on today’s schedule, check out our MLB Top Trends Tool on NBC Sports!

Expert tips and predictions for Game 1 of the NLCS between New York and Los Angeles

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Our model calculates predictions for every moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points such as past performance, player matchups, stadium information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we place its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to determine a relative confidence level for each bet.

Here are the best bets our model predicts for Game 1 between the Mets and Dodgers:

• Money line: NBC Sports recommends a game against the Dodgers on the moneyline
• Spread: NBC Sports is leaning toward a game against the Dodgers on the run line
• Total number of runs: NBC Sports recommends a game with Total Under 8 Runs

Want even more best MLB bets and predictions from our team of experts and tools? Check this out Expert MLB Predictions NBC Sports page for moneyline, spread and overall picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!

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