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The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the World Series for the first time in 29 years, and are favored to beat the Houston Astros in the Fall Classic, according to online oddsmakers.
The folks at Bovada have installed the Dodgers as a -165 favorite over the Astros in the 2017 NLCS, which begins on Tuesday night with Game 1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (8 p.m. ET, Fox). That means a $165 wager would be needed to win $100.
The Astros are +145 underdogs, meaning a $100 bet would return $145 if successful.
Clayton Kershaw starts Game 1 for the Dodgers on Tuesday, against fellow left-hander Dallas Keuchel for the Astros.
“From a futures perspective, it was an ideal matchup for the book with both Houston and LA being fairly decent results,” said Kevin Bradley, Bovada’s sportsbook manager. “We are seeing the same trend heading into the World Series with almost exactly 50% action on both sides. However, as expected, we’re taking about 60% on Kershaw in Game 1.”
The Dodgers finished with 104 wins, the best record in baseball in 2017, and are 7-1 so far in the playoffs, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs in the playoffs. The Astros won 101 games, making this the first World Series matchup between 100-win teams since 1970.
Houston beat the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in their first two playoff rounds, winning 7 of 11 games.