Yankees vs. Dodgers prediction: Odds, expert picks, how to watch, pitching matchup, betting trends, and stats

Two of baseball’s most storied franchises meet beginning Friday in the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees are back in the Fall Classic. Led by MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani respectively, the Yankees and Dodgers were clearly the best teams in baseball over the course of the regular season and of course in the playoffs.

New York (+110 to win the Series) entered the playoffs as the top seed in the American League after a 94-win regular season. They dispatched of the Kansas City Royals in 4 games in the Divisional Round and the Cleveland Guardians in 5 in the ALCS to reach the World Series in search of a record 28^th championship. To claim it, however, they may have to play as many as 4 games away from Yankee Stadium. They begin the series, though, knowing they were the only team in baseball to win 50 games on the road this season.

Los Angeles (-130 to win the Series) was the top seed in the National League with 98 wins in the regular season. They came from behind to knock off the San Diego Padres in 5 games in the Divisional Round and they defeated the New York Mets in 6 in the NLCS. Despite losing a laundry list of exceptional starting pitchers to season-ending injuries over the course of the season – Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Dustin May, and Clayton Kershaw – the offense hit all season. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks (886) scored more runs than LA (842) during the season.

This is a record 12^th time these teams are meeting in the World Series. The Yankees have claimed victory in 8 of the previous 11. The teams have shared a history of iconic moments over the course of those 12 Fall Classics including Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 and Reggie Jackson’s 3 HRs in 1977. No question Mookie Betts (+750-MVP), Aaron Judge (+500), Juan Soto (+550), or Shohei Ohtani (+220) is one swing away from creating a memory and winning this year’s Fall Classic for their respective club.

We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

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Game details & how to watch Yankees @ Dodgers – World Series Game 1

● Date: Friday, October 25, 2024
● Time: 8:08 PM ET
● Site: Dodger Stadium
● City: Los Angeles, CA
● TV/Streaming: FOX

Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.

World Series Game 1 Odds: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Dodgers

The latest odds as of Wednesday morning:

● Moneyline: New York Yankees (+105), Los Angeles Dodgers (-125)
● Spread: Yankees +1.5 (-200), Dodgers -1.5 (+165)
● Total: 8.5

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Probable starting pitchers for New York @ Los Angeles – Game 1

● Friday’s pitching matchup (October 25): Gerrit Cole vs. Jack Flaherty

○ Dodgers: Flaherty (1-2, 7.04 ERA) – Its been a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Flaherty this postseason as he has been smacked around by opposing offenses in two of three starts but brilliant in the other outing. Overall, Flaherty has thrown 15.1 innings in the playoffs allowing 15 hits and 12 earned runs (including 3 HRs – all in the 2 losses) while striking out 8.

○ Yankees: Cole (1-0, 3.31 ERA) – The veteran has been stellar this postseason. In 3 starts, Cole has pitched 16.1 innings allowing 19 hits and 6 earned runs. He has given up just 1 HR while striking out 12.

Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!

Expected Starting Pitchers for the 2024 World Series

Yankees:
Game 1 Gerrit Cole
Game 2 Carlos Rodon
Game 3 Clarke Schmidt
Game 4 Luis Gil

Dodgers:
Game 1 Jack Flaherty
Game 2 Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Game 3 TBD
Game 4 TBD

Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Yankees @ Dodgers: World Series Game 1

· The Dodgers are 8-3 ATS this postseason.
· Their last 6 games have gone OVER and the Dodgers are 9-1-1 overall to the OVER this postseason.
· New York is 5-4 ATS this postseason.
· The Yankees are 4-5 to the OVER this postseason.

Playoff History for New York and Los Angeles

• These teams 1^st met in the World Series in 1941 (Yankees won 4-1).

• The 1981 Series was their most recent meeting (Dodgers won 4-2).

• Overall, New York has won 8 of the previous 11 meetings against LA.

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

Expert picks & predictions for Game 1 of the World Series between New York and Los Angeles

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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s Game 1 between the Dodgers and the Yankees:

· Moneyline: NBC Sports is leaning towards a play on the Yankees on the Moneyline
· Spread: NBC Sports is staying away from a play on the Run Line
· Total Runs: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the OVER of 8.5 Total Runs

Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!

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· Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
· Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
· Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
· Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)