The MLB game lines are for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they attempt, after the Houston Astros took a 3-2 lead on Sunday, to force a seventh and final game of the 2017 World Series. “This is not going to be finished Tuesday,” right fielder Yasiel Puig said. “There’s going to be a Game 7… Everybody is going to be ready for [Justin] Verlander [on] Tuesday night. The best pitcher they have.”
- Date: Tuesday, 31st October
- Time: 8:15 PM
- Venue: Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, California
- Sportsbook odds for fans who bet on MLB games:
Astros +1½ (-220) 7½ (-110) +105
Dodgers -1½ (+180) 7½ (-110) -115
If we go out there, and we give it absolutely everything, that’s heroic. Let’s be heroes
Hopefully Verlander (RHP, 15-8, 3.36 ERA, 219 K) has been re-watching James Van Der Beek’s rousing speech from Varsity Blues – different sport be damned – because Houston, like Bonnie Tyler, needs a hero. Verlander allowed the Dodgers three runs on two home runs in six innings in game 2, which Verlander didn’t win but didn’t lose either. He is, additionally, 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 10 games, nine of which have been starts, since the Astros acquired him, including a 4-0 record in five postseason starts this October. Verlander has been, since leaving Detroit for Houston, like Nigel Tufnel’s amplifier; i.e., turned up all the way to 11.
“Absolutely, I think the level of focus and intensity does go up,” the pitcher said. “It especially goes up in the playoffs. I think that’s something that you just can’t sustain that over a full season. You’d be burnt out. But as soon as the postseason starts, you’re living or dying on every single pitch, and your whole team is living or dying on every single pitch. It changes everything.” The MLB game lines favour the Astros, who are 2-1 SU as faves this World Series.
King of the Hill, or the Fool on the Hill?
Verlander will go up against Rich Hill (LHP, 12-8, 3.32 ERA, 166 K), whom Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled after four innings, after Hill allowed the Astros one run on three hits, struck out seven, and walked three. Hill has said he’d like to pitch deeper on Tuesday; perhaps he should be more concerned about pitching better. “It’s something that all of us have been preparing our entire careers for,” he said. “And for such a big stage and such a great opportunity to go out there and leave it all out on the field, and go out there with an intensity and a passion that everybody has for playing baseball, that is as an ultimate competitor. So going out there in Game 6 and having the ability to be in that position and leave everything on the field is just an amazing thought.” Game 5 felt like it went on forever, but at least it was also the highest scoring World Series game since the Florida Marlins bested the Cleveland Indians 14–11 in Game 3 of the 1997 World Series. No surprise there that the total went over the seven runs predicted by MLB game lines.