The Daily Sweat: The Los Angeles Dodgers are good, but not to bettors
Entering play on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers sit with a record of 45-28. They have a 1.5-game lead over the San Diego Padres in their division. They own the second-best record in the NL and fourth-best record in baseball. While they might not be quite as dominant as some expected at the start of the season, the Dodgers are on pace to reach 100 wins. There's no denying they are a good baseball team. In fact, they are +450 to win the World Series, the second-best odds in MLB behind the New York Yankees.
However, on Tuesday night, the Dodgers lost as prohibitive -225 favorites to the Colorado Rockies. Clayton Kershaw was not good, getting roughed up for six earned runs over four innings. This comes on the heels of a 4-0 loss on Monday, where Chad Kuhl threw a complete game shutout for Colorado as the Dodgers lost as a -200 favorite.
The series finale is on Wednesday night as the Dodgers look to avoid the sweep against the last-place Rockies. Julio Urias is on the mound for Los Angeles, and the Dodgers are once again massive -200 favorites. However, despite their record on the field, bettors have learned by now to steer clear of the Dodgers.
Despite the Dodgers winning 17 more games than they have lost this season, bettors who have bet $100 on every Dodgers game this season are currently down over $300. For comparison, let's look at the other top-five teams in the league:
New York Yankees: $100 bettors are up $1353
Houston Astros: $100 bettors are up $574
New York Mets: $100 bettors are up $991
San Diego Padres: $100 bettors are up $653
We know that oddsmakers inflate the lines for good teams. People love betting on good teams; nobody wants to spend their night rooting for the Kansas City Royals or Oakland Athletics. However, for the most part, the top teams in the league still end up being profitable bets for bettors. That's not the case with the Dodgers, and it's nothing new. Despite winning 106 games last season, bettors who bet Los Angeles in every game of the 2021 season finished the year down money.
This is the second time this season the Dodgers have lost a series to the Rockies. They've already lost two series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Earlier in the year, they lost a series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's baseball, so that will happen of course, but the Dodgers are not a profitable bet and they've gathered a reputation as a team that bettors simply can't trust.
However, there is one avenue in which the Dodgers are a profitable bet. The Dodgers have 45 wins this season. Of those 45 wins, 41 have been by multiple runs while 31 have seen a margin of victory of 3+. If you're gonna bet the Dodgers, it should probably be via the run line. The Dodgers are -135 favorites to win by 2+ runs on Wednesday and +105 to win by 3+ runs.
It's all baseball
Wednesday is usually a good day for baseball bettors as it's a common getaway day, which usually means an influx of afternoon action. There are 15 games on Wednesday's schedule, and eight of them take place in the afternoon. The first pitch of the day will be in St. Petersburg, as the Tampa Bay Rays are -125 favorites over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Two of baseball's top teams go head-to-head in Queens, as the Houston Astros are -140 road favorites against the New York Mets. Justin Verlander is on the mound for the Astros, who are 3-0 against the Mets this season, outscoring them by a combined score of 22-6.
The New York Yankees are -300 favorites against the Oakland Athletics, making them the biggest favorite of the day. The Yankees have taken the first two games of the series, but Tuesday night's game probably didn't please bettors. The Yankees gave up a run in the top of the ninth inning and as a result, failed to cover the run line.
Wimbledon continues
The second round of Wimbledon action continues on Wednesday. It's been a wild few days in London, for a variety of reasons.
Matteo Berrettini was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a positive COVID test. He entered the tournament with the second-best odds to win on the men's side at +550. Marin Cilic also withdrew due to a positive test result. That opens up a path on that side of the bracket for Rafael Nadal, who is now +400 to win the tournament. Novak Djokovic remains the betting favorite at -155.
On the women's side, Serena Williams gave it a go, but she was upset in the first round by Harmony Tan. Serena was a -400 favorite to win the match, but Tan played the game of her career and Serena couldn't pull it out after almost a full year off. Iga Swiatek is a +130 favorite to win the tournament on the women's side.
For all of your tennis betting needs, make sure to follow Yahoo Sportsbook's Pamela Maldonado on Twitter.
