Padres vs. Dodgers Prediction: Odds, expert picks, news, team history, betting trends and stats for Game 1

National League West opponents San Diego and Los Angeles meet in the Divisional Round of the playoffs starting Saturday at Chavez Ravine. The two teams fought for the division title well into September. The Padres actually won the season series for the first time since 2010, winning 8 of the 13 games. However, the Dodgers took two of three games from the Padres in the final weeks of the season and secured the division. Los Angeles finished the season with 98 wins, tops in all of baseball. The Padres finished with 43 wins after the All-Star break, tops in all of baseball.

The two teams will meet starting Saturday to face the winner of the Mets/Phillies series in the National League Championship Series. Injuries to a handful of Dodgers starters have forced Los Angeles to rely on Shohei Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers hitters to carry them…but Shohei and his friends have done just that. Ohtani himself came 1st^st Player in the history of the game who hit 50 home runs and stole 50 bases. Balance has been the key factor for the Padres since the All-Star break, as they are in the top five in both scoring and team ERA.

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.

Listen to the Rotoworld Baseball Show for the latest player news, waiver claims, roster picks and more from our experts all season long. Click here or download it wherever you get your podcasts.

Game details and how to watch Padres vs. Dodgers – Game 1

● Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024
● Time: 8:38 p.m. ET
● Location: Dodger Stadium
● City: Los Angeles, California
● TV/Streaming: FS1

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.

Padres vs. Dodgers odds

The latest odds from Friday:

● Money line: San Diego Padres (+114), Los Angeles Dodgers (-135)
● Spread: Padres +1.5 (-192), Dodgers -1.5 (+160)
● In total: 7.5

Bet the Edge is your source for all things sports betting. Get all the insights from Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick weekdays at 6pm ET right here or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Likely starting players for Padres vs. Dodgers

● Saturday pitching matchup (October 5): Dylan Cease vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto

○ Padres: Cease (14-11, 3.47 ERA) has allowed 73 earned runs and 137 hits while striking out .224 in 189.1 innings. Cease has appeared in two playoff games in his career, pitching a total of 2.2 innings without recording a decision but posting a 10.13 ERA. One of the two appearances was a start in which he allowed three earned runs in 1.2 innings.

○ Dodgers: Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00 ERA) has allowed 30 earned runs and 78 hits in 90 innings while striking out 105. The rookie hurler has yet to appear in the playoffs.

Rotoworld is there for you All the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions, where you can filter by league, team, position and news type!

Top betting trends and insights to know ahead of Padres @ Dodgers

• This is the 3^approx All-time postseason meetings with the Dodgers winning in 2020 and the Padres winning in 2022.

• Yamamoto has struggled with the Padres this season, allowing eight earned runs in six innings in two starts

• The Dodgers have won 8 of their last 10 games against NL West opponents.

• The OVER is 4-1 in the Dodgers' last 5 with a residual advantage over their opponent.

• San Diego's bullpen has a 3.16 ERA in the second half of the season

Playoff history for San Diego and Los Angeles

• Padres: San Diego holds a 20-32 record in postseason history. They reached the World Series twice, losing in both 1984 and 1998.

• Dodgers: LA owns an all-time playoff record of 11,549-10,209. 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 series between San Diego and Los Angeles

Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

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 of Padres vs. Dodgers:

· Money line: NBC Sports recommends a game against the Dodgers on the moneyline

· Spread: NBC Sports recommends a game against the Dodgers on the run line

· Total number of runs: NBC Sports recommends a game with a total of over 7.5 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!

Follow our experts on social media to stay up to date with the latest staff content: