Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS Game 2 picks: Milwaukee wins close one amid 'Playoff Freddie' Freeman heating up
Let's grab some action for Game 2 of the NLCS on Tuesday night
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
After a nail-biting Game 1 of the Dodgers-Brewers NLCS, in which the Dodgers survived with a 2-1 victory, Game 2 happens in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. It'll be two frontline starters in Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers against Freddy Peralta of the Brewers. The Brewers shouldn't be desperate or anything, but they do really need this game in a bad way. Falling down 0-2 after two home games before hitting the road really makes it tough to win the series.
Let's dive in. Lines for tonight's game are courtesy of BetMGM.
Brewers +100
I have several points here. The first one is that Blake Snell won the game for the Dodgers in Game 1 with his dominant eight innings, taking so much pressure off that possibly leaky Dodgers' bullpen. Yamamoto hasn't been quite as dominant in the playoffs, so the concern from the Dodgers' end is that he only lasts, say, six innings and then the bullpen needs to get three in what I expect to be a close game. Yamamoto had an awful outing at Milwaukee in the regular season, too. The next point is that Peralta had a 1.77 ERA at home this season. Combine those and I believe we're looking at a close game into the middle innings. The Dodgers' bullpen has plenty of cracks and, after Game 1, it looks like we can add Roki Sasaki to the list of concerns. I'll take the Brewers winning this one late.
The final point: I just have a gut feeling that these Brewers aren't going down 0-2 at home in this series. They haven't gone quietly all year. Why start now? The Dodgers are great and maybe even have more talent than the Brewers, but this isn't the David vs. Goliath battle some would have us believe.
Freddie Freeman over 1.5 H+R+RBI (+100)
This might be a bit of a hedge here, but if the Dodgers generate any offense in this game, I expect 'Playoff Freddie' to be involved. He hit a home run and doubled in Game 1. He now has 15 home runs, 37 RBI and 35 runs in 69 playoff games with a .274/.370/.514 line. The pitching matchup isn't overly daunting for Freeman, given that it's a right-hander in Peralta taking the ball for the Brewers. And Freeman isn't even bad against lefties, so even if the Brewers feed him lefties starting in the middle innings, we should still be fine.
