After losing only one game of a four game series to the St. Louis Cardinals, the resurgent Los Angeles Dodgers went on to sweep a 3 game series from the Tampa Bay Rays to become the hottest team in Major League Baseball going into the home stretch for the 2013 baseball season.
Way back before the baseball season began, the Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers were seen by Las Vegas oddsmakers as having the best chances to make it to the 109th edition of the World Series.
While the Tigers have remained strong the entire season, the Dodgers took a plunge early on and both fans and handicappers alike were scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong with those preseason predictions.
On opening day, the Tigers were posted as 6-to-1 favorites to win the World Series while the Dodgers were close behind at 8-to-1. The other Los Angeles team… the Angles… were listed at 7-to-1 and they seem to be holding their own up to this point. The only other 7-to-1 team on opening day was, believe it or not, was the Washington Nationals who are now 14.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
With Miguel Cabrera making yet another run at the Triple Crown title, the Tigers are still looking strong going into the final weeks of the regular season and their prices have dropped accordingly. Detroit’s odds to win the World Series are down to 4-to-1 and to win the American League pennant all the way down to 7-to-4. It doesn’t hurt that the Tigers pitching staff is currently leading the major leagues in strikeouts.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, were inhabiting the cellar in the National League West back in June. But then along came Yasil Puig and the Dodgers caught fire. Since the All-Star break the Dodgers have only lost 3 games and have moved from the bottom to the top of the National League West overtaking the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Currently the Dodgers are listed at 8-to-5 to win the National League pennant and 7-to-1 to take the World Series. And they have made that move without the services of Hanley Ramirez or Matt Kemp. When they get back in the lineup… watch out MLB! The 1-2 punch of Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw on the mound for Los Angeles makes them the most formidable team in baseball in the middle of August and new favorites to win the whole enchilada.
