The Los Angeles Dodgers will be looking to build some momentum heading into the postseason when they square off against the NL West-rival San Francisco Giants this Tuesday night at AT&T Park in the first of a three-game set. This series opener is set to get underway at 10:15 p.m. (ET), and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

With a little over a week left in the regular season, the Dodgers have clinched the NL West title, but they are still battling it out for the best overall record in the National League. They come into this series with a 4-6 record in their last 10 games, and the total has stayed “under” in five of their last eight games. Los Angeles has an overall record of 90-66, and it is 44-34 on the road.

San Francisco went 6-4 in a recent 10-game road trip but is still 12 games below .500 at 72-84 for the year. The trip started out with a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers as a +156 road underdog, but it went on to beat its rivals three straight times after that loss. The Giants return home with an even 38-38 record at AT&T Park this year.

Dodgers at Giants Betting Storylines

The Dodgers are just two games in back of Atlanta for home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs, so there is still plenty on the line heading into their final six games. After getting shut out by San Diego 2-0 last Friday, Los Angeles pitched two shutouts of its own by outscoring the Padres 5-0 in the final two games of that series. There still has to be some concern for this recent lack of production at the plate after averaging over four runs a game this season. Adrian Gonzalez remains the biggest bat in the lineup with 98 RBI and 21 home runs.

Pitching has remained fairly strong down the stretch with an overall team ERA of 3.29, which is second only to the Braves in the NL. Los Angeles will go with Hyun-Jin Ryu as its starter for Tuesday night. This will be his first start since Sept. 16 after missing a few turns in the rotation. The left-hander is 13-7 this season with a 3.03 ERA in 28 starts. He has allowed less than four earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts and is 1-2 against the Giants with an ERA of 2.81.

San Francisco’s lineup has been productive at putting the ball in play this season with a .260 team batting average that is fifth-best in the NL, but scoring runs on a consistent basis has been a whole other story. It is currently ranked 11th in the league in scoring with an average of 3.86 runs a game. The Giants have scored more than four runs in only two of their last 10 games.

Even San Francisco’s normally reliable pitching staff has had its fair share of problems this season with a team ERA of 4.00. It will send Matt Cain to the mound in this series opener as its starter. The right-hander is 8-9 on the year, which means that for just the second time in the last six seasons he will finish with less than 10 wins. Cain’s overall ERA on the year is 4.06, and over the course of his career against the Dodgers he is 5-9 with a 3.38 ERA.

Dodgers at Giants Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened Los Angeles as a +109 road favorite for Tuesday night’s game with the Giants listed as -119 underdogs at home. The total line for this NL West clash has been set at 6.5.

The Dodgers are 20-6 in the first game of their last 26 series and 26-12 in their last 38 games against the NL West. The total has stayed under in five of their last six games following a day off.

The Giants are 6-2 in their last eight games against a left-handed starter, but just 10-24 in the first game of their last 34 series. The total has stayed under in the first game of seven of their last eight series.

Head-to-head in this division rivalry, Los Angeles is 2-5 in its last seven games in San Francisco, and the total has stayed under in six of the last 10 meetings at AT&T Park.

Baseball Picks: Dodgers at Giants Predictions

Both teams have been struggling to get runners across the plate, and that deficiency will only be enhanced with a couple of decent hurlers on the mound to start this game. While the edge on playing a side would go to Los Angeles in this matchup, my top play would still be the under on the total, despite the low 6.5 line, given current form and past series trends.

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