MLB Playoff Odds: Bettors Love This Same Bet For ALCS, NLCS (Oct. 20)

MLB Playoff Odds: Bettors Love This Same Bet For ALCS, NLCS (Oct. 20) article feature image
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Getty Images. Pictured: Kike Hernandez, Kyle Schwarber, Cody Bellinger.

Bettors are hammering the same line for both games on tonight's MLB playoff schedule.

About 90% of the money is on the over (9.5) for Game 5 of the ALCS between the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park.

The same amount of money is on the over (8) for Game 4 of the NLCS between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers from Dodger Stadium.

Those odds are according to BetMGM.

The over has hit every single game in this season's American League Championship Series.

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The total had been set at eight for Game 1 of that series before shifting to 8.5. The game finished with nine runs.

In Game 2, the total was set at 8.5. The over smashed through that mark with 14 runs scored.

For Game 3, the total was set at 8.5 before moving up to nine. The two teams combined for 15 runs.

Game 4 saw the same story. The line opened at 8.5 before moving as high as 10, and the Astros and Red Sox blew open the total with 11 runs. This one, granted, required a controversial seven-run ninth inning.

Home plate umpire Laz Diaz called a ball on a curveball from Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi that seemed to scrape the top right corner of the strike zone.

But an analysis by ESPN after the fact found that the pitch is only called a strike 23% of the time.

As you can expect, Red Sox fans still made an uproar about it.

In the National League Championship Series, the last two games have gone over while Game 1 went under.

Game 1's total was eight runs and the two teams finished with five.

In Game 2, the total was placed at 7.5 and held firm pregame. The Dodgers and Braves scored nine in Atlanta, with a walk-off hit by Eddie Rosario putting Los Angeles in a 2-0 series hole.

Game 3 saw the total open at eight before moving down to 7.5 after the starters were named.

The two teams combined for 11 runs, punctuated by a four-run inning by the Braves in the fifth and a four-run inning by the Dodgers in the eighth.

About the Author
Avery Yang is a General Editor at The Action Network and a recent graduate from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He has written for the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, (the old) Deadspin, MLB.com and others.

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