Announcement

**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 09:35 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

NFL leaders in passing yardage:
1,856— Dak Prescott, Dal
1,843— Matt Ryan, Atl
1,786— DeShaun Watson, Hst
1,760— Carson Wentz, Phil
1,711— Josh Allen, Buff
1,699— Patrick Mahomes, KC

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 222,324
PLEASE wear a mask when you go out.

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Armadillo: Friday's Den: Random stuff with the weekend here

13) Eagles 22, Giants 21:
— Eagles scored two TD’s in last 4:38 to pull out this win.
— Daniel Jones had an 80-yard run; Giants ran ball for 160 yards.
— Giants lost their last five visits here, by 1-5-3-3-6 points.

— Eagles won last seven series games; five of those wins were by 6 or fewer points.
— Underdogs covered six of seven Eagle games.
— Philly survived 2nd quarter where they had ball in red zone three times, but scored only three points- they missed a 29-yard FG.

12) NFL jerked around their TV schedule for this Sunday; Seattle-Arizona moves to the Sunday night slot, Bucs-Raiders moves to 4:05, probably because Las Vegas put several players on the COVID list this week, including several offensive linemen.

11) Had this been a normal baseball season, Dodgers’ payroll would’ve been $222,115.000; Tampa Bay’s payroll would’ve been $72,489,233.

10) LSU will start true freshman QB TJ Finley this week, in place of injured starter Myles Brennan; this will be Finley’s first college start. Another true freshman QB, Max Johnson, is also expected to play some for the Bayou Bengals.

9) The Holiday Bowl will not be played this season, bowl organizers announced Thursday, citing the coronavirus situation; the Holiday Bowl had been played every year since 1978.

8) Baltimore Ravens traded a 2021 3rd-round pick and a 2022 conditional 5th-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for Yannick Ngakoue. NFL trade deadline is November 3rd.

7) When Pac-12 starts their football season, teams will need to have 53+ players active and ready to play, with 7+ of those 53 being offensive linemen.

6) In their first four games, Buffalo Bills had 24 plays that gained 20+ yards; in their last two games, they’ve had only three plays of 20+ yards.

5) Jordan Spieth’s father is caddying for him this week at the ZoZo Championship; Spieth’s regular caddy had a death in the family and was unavailable.

4) Indiana Pacers named Nate Bjorkgren their new head coach; he spent the last two years as an assistant coach in Toronto, helping them win the 2019 title. As recently as 2007, Bjorkgren was a high school coach in Arizona.

3) It snowed in Minnesota Tuesday. On October 20. No bueno.

2) Dallas Cowboys have trailed by 17+ points at halftime in three of their four home games.

1) Appalachian State 45, Arkansas State 17:
— App State ran ball for 305 yards, outgained Ark State 521-368.
— App State converted 10-15 third down plays.
— App State had three TD plays of 46+ yards.

**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 09:36 AM

MLB public betting, line movement October 23
Patrick Everson

Brandon Lowe rediscovered his home run stroke in Game 2, launching two long balls to help the Rays even up the World Series. Tampa Bay opened as a +140 underdog for Friday's pivotal Game 3.

MLB betting odds are posted and drawing action for Friday night’s Game 3 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. With the series knotted up, both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays look to gain an edge in the Fall Classic.

Multiple oddsmakers provided insights on MLB opening lines and early movement and public betting for Friday’s Game 3 and the updated World Series odds.

MLB line movement

Tampa Bay staked itself to a 5-1 lead by the middle of the fifth inning in Game 2 Thursday, then held on for a 6-4 victory over Los Angeles to tie the best-of-seven World Series at a game apiece. DraftKings opened Game 3 at Dodgers -165/Rays +140 overnight Wednesday into Thursday, and there was no movement by Thursday afternoon.

The total opened at 7.5 and was also stable Thursday for Friday’s 8:08 p.m. ET clash.

MLB public betting

With literally no movement on the moneyline so far at DraftKings, it’s clear that Thursday action is light, still more than 24 hours out from first pitch. That said, as was the case in Games 1 and 2, bettors are leaning toward Tampa Bay. The Rays are attracting 57 percent of early bets and 60 percent of early money.

On the total at DraftKings, there’s much stronger consensus early on, with 86 percent of tickets and 89 percent of money on Over 7.5.

The consensus also favors the Rays, with 54 percent of early picks on Tampa Bay, and the Over is also drawing 54 percent of early picks, as of Thursday afternoon.

Odds to win the World Series

With the early back-and-forth game results, the price to win the World Series has also swung back and forth. Prior to Game 1, The SuperBook had the Dodgers -210 and the Rays +180. After L.A.’s Game 1 win, the price shifted to Dodgers -410/Rays +340.

Now, with the World Series tied at 1, The SuperBook is practically back at the pre-Game 1 number, with the Dodgers -200 and the Rays +175.

“The Rays are awesome for us,” SuperBook executive director John Murray said prior to Game 1. “We’re a small loser to the Dodgers.”

**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 09:37 AM

MLB
Weather Report

Friday, October 23

**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 09:38 AM

**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 09:41 AM

955LA DODGERS -956 TAMPA BAY
TAMPA BAY is 90-58 SU (26.2 Units) after 2 straight games where they committed no errors in the last 3 seasons.

MLB
Dunkel

Friday, October 23

LA Dodgers @ Tampa Bay

Game 955-956
October 23, 2020 @ 8:08 pm

Dunkel Rating:
LA Dodgers
(Buehler) 16.417
Tampa Bay
(Morton) 17.518
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Tampa Bay
by 1
7
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
LA Dodgers
-155
7 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Tampa Bay
(+135); Under

MLB
Long Sheet

Friday, October 23

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LA DODGERS (53 - 21) vs. TAMPA BAY (50 - 26) - 8:08 PM
WALKER BUEHLER (R) vs. CHARLIE MORTON (R)
Top Trends for this game.
LA DODGERS are 147-153 (-36.1 Units) against the money line in an inter-league game since 1997.
TAMPA BAY is 50-26 (+15.2 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 11-1 (+9.1 Units) against the money line when playing with a day off this season.
TAMPA BAY is 34-17 (+12.0 Units) against the money line in night games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 39-15 (+20.5 Units) against the money line against right-handed starters this season.
TAMPA BAY is 31-17 (+9.0 Units) against the money line after a win this season.
TAMPA BAY is 22-8 (+14.6 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 1-1 (+0.2 Units) against LA DODGERS this season
2 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL this season . (Over=+2.0 Units)

WALKER BUEHLER vs. TAMPA BAY since 1997
No recent starts.

CHARLIE MORTON vs. LA DODGERS since 1997
MORTON is 0-1 when starting against LA DODGERS with an ERA of 4.67 and a WHIP of 1.385.
His team's record is 1-2 (-1.2 units) in these starts. The UNDER is 1-1. (-0.2 units)

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MLB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, October 23

World Series

Tampa Bay vs Los Angeles (1-1) (@ Arlington)
Morton is 4-0, 2.45 in his last five starts.
— Rays are 8-4 in his starts this season.
— Under is 7-3 in his last ten starts.
— Snell threw two scoreless innings in a two-inning start vs LA last year.
— He allowed 11 runs in 11 IP in two career starts against the Dodgers.

— Tampa Bay lost four of its last six games.
— Rays are 50-26 this season.
— Under is 8-3 in their last 11 games.
— Tampa Bay lost its only previous World Series, in 2008.

Buehler is 1-1, 1.57 in his last five starts (23 IP)
— Dodgers are 10-2 in his starts this season.
— His last five starts stayed under the total.
— Buehler is 2-1, 2.44 in ten postseason starts.
— He’s never pitched against Tampa Bay.

— Dodgers are 53-21 this year; they’ve won four of last five games.
— Dodgers are in playoffs for the 8th year in a row.
— LA is 32-12 away from home this season.
— Over is 6-2 in their last eight games.
— Dodgers haven’t won World Series since 1988; they lost World Series in 2017-18.

MLB

Friday, October 23

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Trend Report
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LA Dodgers @ Tampa Bay
LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing at home against LA Dodgers

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**Udog** · 10-23-2020, 10:09 AM

Game 3 Odds: Dodgers vs. Rays
Tom Wilkinson

We had a rarity during the 2020 MLB postseason on Thursday. Neither the Tampa Bay Rays nor the Los Angeles Dodgers had yet to experience an off day in the middle of a series.

Both teams surely appreciated the time off, but now it’s time to return to action on Friday. The Rays will be the nominal hosts in Game 3 on Friday, October 23, shortly after 8:00 p.m. ET, and it will be broadcast on FOX.

Betting Resources

Matchup: World Series Game 3
Venue: Globe Life Field
Location: Arlington, Texas
Date: Friday, Oct. 23, 2020
Time: 8:09 p.m. ET
TV: FOX

Line Movements

Money-Line: Dodgers -150, Rays +140
Run-Line: Dodgers -1.5 (+105), Rays +1.5 (-125)
Total: 7.5
Updated Series Price: Los Angeles -200, Tampa Bay +175

Tampa Bay right-hander Charlie Morton takes the mound in Game 3 of the World Series against Los Angeles. (AP)

Game 2 Recap

Tampa Bay evened the series with a 6-4 victory over LA on Wednesday. Blake Snell was masterful until the fifth inning, and the Rays’ bullpen got the job done from there, allowing only three hits and two earned runs in the final 4.1 innings.

Brandon Lowe was the hero of the day for the Rays. Lowe has struggled throughout the postseason, but he opened the scoring with a solo home run off Tony Gonsolin in the first inning and hit a two-run blast off Dustin May in the fifth inning.

For the second straight game in this series, the 'over' tickets cashed for the game and in the first-five inning wagers as well.

Tampa Bay connected on both of those wagers as well, leading 5-2 after five innings and prop bettors looking for early action also saw the Rays score in the first inning, which may have helped or hurt your wagers.

If you follow our 2020 Playoffs Betting Results, you can see that the run-line favorites have been a great return for bettors while those tinkering in the totals market have seen great back-and-forth decisions.

Game 3 Pitching Analysis

Starting Pitchers

Walker Buehler
Charlie Morton

The Dodgers will send their ace to the mound on Friday. Walker Buehler has been electric for each of the last two years. He came into his own in 2019 with a 14-4 record coupled with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Buehler showed excellent command with a 5.8 K/BB, and while his walk rate is up, his WHIP was even better in 2020. He finished the season with a 3.44 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP in 36.2 innings of action.

Buehler has been great in four playoff appearances over the last month. He has allowed just 15 hits in 19 innings of work, striking out 29 batters and posting a 1.89 ERA. However, he has had some issues with control. He has walked 11 batters during that span, and that may be due to his blister issues. Buehler has been dealing with multiple blisters on his pitching hand for the last month.

Charlie Morton will head to the bump for the Rays. Uncle Charlie has been a reliable postseason starter throughout his long career. He has appeared in 12 playoff games, and he boasts a 7-2 record with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. His command has improved in October with a 9.6 K/9 in the postseason, and Morton has won all three of his starts for the Rays in these playoffs.

Morton faced the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series when he was on the Houston Astros, and he was lights out in two games. He posted a 1.74 ERA and a 0.58 WHIP in 10.1 innings of work, and he closed the door on the Dodgers in Game 7 of that series.

Postseason Team Records with Pitchers

Dodgers - Walker Buehler (3-1)

Oct. 17 - L.A. 3 Atlanta 1
Oct. 12 - L.A. 1 Atlanta 5
Oct. 5 - L.A. 5 San Diego 1
Sept. 30 - L.A. 4 - San Diego 2

Rays - Charlie Morton (3-0)

Oct. 17 - Tampa Bay 4 Houston 2
Oct. 12 - Tampa Bay 4 Houston 2
Oct. 7 - Tampa Bay 8 Houston 4

Game 3 Bullpen Analysis

Rest brings Rewards

The day off means that both bullpens will have a little extra time to recharge.

That is a little more beneficial to the Dodgers, as they used six relievers in Game 2 after using four relievers in Game 1. Dylan Floro, Victor Gonzalez, Alex Wood, and Dustin May might not see much action since all four pitchers have thrown at least 24 pitches in the first two games, and postseason standout Julio Urias won’t be available since he is starting Game 4 on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay used all three of its best relievers on Wednesday with Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks each seeing a lot of work.

Diego Castillo had a three-pitch outing, so he is likely to be one of the first arms out of the bullpen, and either John Curtiss or Ryan Thompson will probably take the hill too.

Players to Watch - Dodgers

Corey Seager’s great postseason continues to get better. Seager became the first shortstop to hit seven home runs in a single postseason after his solo blast off Fairbanks in the eighth inning in Game 2. He was the only Dodger with multiple hits on Wednesday, picking up two of LA’s five total base knocks, and he currently has a 1.161 OPS in these playoffs.

The Dodgers have the best one to six line-up in the majors, and that has paid huge dividends already in this series.

Manager Dave Roberts has not tinkered with the batting order, and his stars continue to answer the call with all six players getting on base at least once in each game against the Rays. Seager has been the best, reaching base five times, but the consistency down the line has been impressive.

Players to Watch - Rays

It took 16 games for Brandon Lowe to finally make an impact in the postseason. Lowe had just six hits and one home run prior to Game 2 on Wednesday night, but Kevin Cash has stuck with his young star. He was rewarded with his two home run outing, and the Rays are hoping he can build off that. To highlight his struggles these playoffs, Lowe only has a .476 OPS after those long balls.

Randy Arozarena has made a lot of history over the last month, and he added to his list of achievements on Wednesday. He recorded his 22nd hit of the postseason, tying Derek Jeter for the most hits in one postseason by a rookie. Arozarena has carried the Rays to the World Series with seven home runs and a 1.222 OPS. The next highest mark on the team is Manuel Margot with five home runs and a .962 OPS.

Tampa Bay is one of the biggest examples of the three true outcomes era of baseball. Collectively, the Rays have struck out in nearly 30 percent of their at-bats this postseason, but they also have 28 home runs and 52 walks. This team is only hitting .213, yet they are making the most of the long ball.

After watching the first two games in this series, Seager and Lowe are both listed at 11/1 odds to win the World Series Most Valuable Player award.

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Friday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/23

Friday's MLB Trends and Indexes - 10/23

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