Milwaukee Brewers vs Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions, Odds & Picks

• Pitching matchup more even than one might think
• Potential playoff preview 
• X-factors to watch

Brewers vs Dodgers Odds

Odds presented by: DraftKings Sportsbook

Brewers vs Dodgers Predictions and Picks

Trends to Watch

• Brewers are 24-8 in their last 32 road games with the total set at 7.0-8.5
• Brewers are 11-4 in their last 15 games as a road underdog
• Brewers are 23-9 in their last 32 vs. National League West
• Brewers are 5-2 in their last 7 games as an underdog
• Brewers are 5-2 in their last 7 games vs. a left-handed starter.
• Brewers are 7-3 in their last 10 Friday games
• Brewers are 39-17 in their last 56 road games
• Brewers are 1-6 in their last 7 vs. a team with a winning record
• Under is 6-0 in Brewers last 6 games as an underdog
• Under is 4-1 in Brewers last 5 road games
• Dodgers are 5-2 in last seven head-to-head meetings
• Dodgers are 22-6 in their last 28 vs. a team with a winning record
• Dodgers are 40-13 in their last 53 overall
• Dodgers are 37-14 in their last 51 games as a home favorite
• Dodgers are 41-18 in their last 59 vs. National League Central
• Under is 6-0 in Dodgers last 6 Friday games
• Under is 31-15-5 in Dodgers last 51 overall

Garcia’s 2021 record: (54-48-2)

Lauer an Underrated Piece in Brewers Pitching Staff

Clayton Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. He might get 100 percent of the votes. He could possibly go down as the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time or the best pitcher of his generation.

Matt Lauer is just 26 years old, has never thrown more than120 innings in a season or finished a year with an ERA below 4.30. All those things will change this season as Lauer is enjoying the best year of his young career and will very likely go toe-to-toe with Kershaw.

Here are their respective numbers.

Kershaw: 10-8 overall, 3.38 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 143 strikeouts in 120 innings.

Lauer: 7-5 overall, 2.93 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 114 strikeouts in 113.2 innings

This game should actually be quite close, especially considering Lauer is pitching his best ball at the right time. The Elyria, Ohio native is 3-0 with a 1.15 ERA in five starts thus far in September. He’s given up one run or fewer and pitched into the sixth inning or further in all five starts.

He’s given up just 14 hits and eight walks in 31.1 innings — that’s 0.707 WHIP.

Kershaw on the other hand has made just three appearances since returning from a forearm injury that caused him to miss two months and hasn’t really missed a beat.

Los Angeles has been taking it easy with him, he’s pitched between 50-75 pitches in every start, but in each of the first two he gave up just one run per game. It’s not hard to imagine Dave Roberts extending Kershaw out to 85 or 90 pitches in his final tune up for the postseason; just another reason we think this game is a low-scoring one.

Brewers Looking to Right the Ship in Potential Playoff Preview

The teams in the postseason are all but set in the National League. All that’s left is positioning

The Brewers in the NL Central, Braves in the NL East Giants or Dodgers in the NL West, the other in the first wild card spot with the Cardinals in the second wild-card spot.

There’s a good chance these teams could meet and the Brewers hope they’ll be playing better then than they are now. Milwaukee is just 4-7 in its last 11 while Los Angeles has now won four straight, six of its last seven and nine of its last 11.

X-factors to watch

Milwaukee needs someone who can do some damage against lefties in order to chase Kershaw from the game, so we will look at someone who isn’t a big bat but is always a pest — Kolten Wong. Wong has been the best Brewer against lefties this year, hitting .298 with a .794 in 131 at-bats.

For Los Angeles, we’re looking for someone who does against southpaws as well. There are many good options — Trea Turner, Albert Pujols, Max Muncy, and Corey Seager among them.

Instead, we’re going to go with Chris Taylor. Taylor hits .293 with a .884 OPS against lefties this season. That’s 38 points and 99 points better than his season averages, respectively.

How to watch Brewers vs Dodgers