Betting Trends: The over is 40-23 in LA's last 63 games (+20.20 Units / 29% ROI) and 49-41 in San Diego's last 90 games (+8.45 Units / 9% ROI). The over is 6-3-1 in the last ten meetings between these teams, including 4-0-1 in the last five games.

I bet the over at 7.5 in Friday's winner-take-all game between San Diego and Los Angeles. Runs have not been difficult for either ballclub to generate in this series, and that won't change today.

The Dodgers will start Game 1 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and are also likely to lean on Game 2 starter Jack Flaherty, as they used eight pitchers in Wednesday's Game 4 win. Los Angeles' bullpen has been fortunate in this series, as it has an unsustainably high 97.7% strand rate, as well. Yamamoto has struggled in three starts against SD, allowing 13 runs, including eight first-inning runs. Flaherty has also had his issues versus the Padres, allowing seven runs on nine hits and four walks in the last two meetings (10.1 combined innings). The Padres' bats went cold at home after falling behind early in Game 4, but I expect them to score early and often today.

LA got its swagger back on Wednesday and will put up a fight tonight. I don't expect Yu Darvish to have as much success in his second start against the Dodgers in this series. LA ranked 2nd in wOBA vs. right-handers this season and was first in MLB in wOBA (.362) in September, averaging 6.23 runs per game. They also had the second-highest walk rate (10.0%) versus righties. Darvish has a declining strikeout rate, and while he's been okay at limiting hits, he is homer-prone when he misses his spot.