Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 10/18/24

The Dodgers have a chance to close out the NLCS in New York after dominating Game 3 and Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead. The Mets look like they are done and out of ideas, and the Dodgers are red hot, seemingly able to do no wrong. Not long ago, they were facing elimination against what seemed like a better Padres team, but then the Dodgers flipped a switch and started living up to their payroll. Everyone is hitting, the pitchers are executing, and I expect the Dodgers to close out the series on Friday. My Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets prediction is the Dodgers to take Game 5.

The Mets will go with a bullpen game on Friday. That is not good. The Mets have been trying to out-bullpen the Dodgers all series, and it has had disastrous results. The New York pen has been over-exposed, and they are likely to get lit up yet again on Friday. Personally, I hate the way Dave Roberts is managing this series—he is over-managing his starters and pulling them way sooner than necessary, and his bullpen should be overworked, but the Mets simply won’t make the Dodgers pay for it. LA will turn to Jack Flaherty again on Friday, and in Game 1, Flaherty was terrific. Roberts actually let him throw 7 full innings, and Flaherty gave up nothing. The Dodgers haven’t really used as much of their bullpen as you would expect, so 5 or 6 innings from Flaherty should be more than enough to lock this one down. Honestly, the Mets look cooked to me. No need to take this series back to LA. My Dodgers vs Mets pick is the Dodgers Money Line, and we might as well play it hard.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets Prediction: Dodgers ML (-140) available at the time of publishing. Playable to -150.