The Tampa Bay Rays had the best regular season record in the American League standings at 40-20. The Los Angeles Dodgers posted the best record in the Majors at 43-17 out of the National League. Each team had to sweat out crucial Game 7 victories in their league championship series to meet expectations as this season’s two best teams.
They will now face each other in the best-of-seven World Series. It will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas to eliminate any home field advantage. However, Los Angeles will be the designated home team for the first two games as well as the final two games if necessary.
Get MLB World Series Odds at the Best Betting Sites
2020 World Series Betting Preview
The Rays’ run to the AL Pennant started with two easy wins against Toronto in the opening wild card round by a combined score of 11-3. That was the only easy thing about this run. The Tampa Bay Rays needed to squeeze out a Game 5 victory against the bitter rival New York Yankees by a score of 2-1 to advance to the ALCS.
Against the Houston Astros in this best-of-seven clash, the Rays built a dominating 3-0 series lead behind some incredible pitching that only allowed a combined five runs. They went on to lose the next three games while giving up at least four runs in each loss. This night and day performance ended well with a 4-2 win in Saturday’s deciding Game 7.
Tampa Bay closed as an underdog in four of the five games against the Yankees. It was favored in all seven games against Houston. The total has now stayed UNDER in eight of the Rays’ last nine postseason games.
Los Angeles started its expected run to the World Series with a pair of victories over Milwaukee in the best-of-three wild card round. It went on to make short work of the NL West rival San Diego Padres in the NLDS with three-straight wins by a combined score of 23-9. This raised the team’s winning streak to nine games going back to Sept. 24.
GameAdvisers Review: AI-Powered MLB Computer Picks
As the money piled in on the Dodgers in the NLCS, the Atlanta Braves took an unexpected 2-0 series lead. The Braves lost Game 3 but they forged a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 10-2 victory in Game 4.
With their backs firmly against the wall, LA reached down deep to win the final three games, including Sunday’s 4-3 thriller. The total stayed UNDER in those final two victories after going OVER in six of its previous seven postseason contests.
Game 1 of this season’s World Series is set for an 8:08 p.m. (ET) start at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night. Game 2 is set for Wednesday with the series resuming on Friday night. FOX has the national broadcast rights.
The recent history between the two teams is a blank slate since they did not face one another in the shortened regular season.
The Dodgers have been opened as -170 favorites for the series opener. Tampa Bay is a +145 underdog. The total has been set at eight runs.
Access Free MLB World Series Picks and Full Game MLB Recaps
Rays vs. Dodgers Series Price Odds and Prediction
Los Angeles is a -200 favorite on the opening series price odds. Tampa Bay is a +170 underdog. The Dodgers were -210 favorites against the Braves, but at one time in that series, they ballooned to +180 underdogs in light of a 3-1 series deficit.
The resiliency that each team has demonstrated getting to this point has been impressive. I have the Dodgers finally getting the monkey off their back as perennial World Series favorites. However, it is going to take the full seven games to earn that honor.
