Giants favored over Dodgers to win NL West but not World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers remain favored to successfully defend their World Series title, but they’re no longer favored to win their division.
For the first time all season, the San Francisco Giants have been installed as the favorites to win the National League West at Las Vegas sportsbooks. The Giants are -135 at BetMGM, -130 at Caesars Sports and -125 at Boyd Gaming.
The Giants were -145 favorites at Circa Sports on Friday after they extended their lead to five games Thursday. The Giants (76-42) and Dodgers (72-46) are now even at -110 at Circa heading into Monday’s games after the Dodgers cut the lead back to four Saturday. There are 44 games left in the season.
The Dodgers are still the +350 favorites to win the World Series at Circa, having added ace Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to their stacked roster at the trade deadline.
However, Circa sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said he had to acknowledge that San Francisco isn’t going away.
“The Giants just keep winning,” Bennett said. “Yeah, the Dodgers got Max Scherzer, but they’re not gaining any ground.”
The Giants were available at prices in the 60-1 to 75-1 range to win the NL West early in the season, expected to finish a distant third to the Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Despite leading the division at the midpoint, the Giants were still available at +480 at Circa, behind the Dodgers at -185 and Padres at +335.
The Padres are now 127-1 to win the division at Circa, sitting 10 games behind San Francisco.
Despite the Giants’ earlier high prices, Circa is still rooting for San Francisco to win the NL West because of liability that has piled up all season on the Dodgers, Bennett said.
The sentiment is reversed in the World Series market. The Giants took “meaningful money” at 200-1 to win the title and continued to take bets as their odds fell throughout the season, Bennett said.
“The Giants are far and away our worst result that has a legitimate shot of winning the World Series,” he said.
The Giants are the +750 fourth choice to win the title at Circa, behind the Dodgers, Chicago White Sox (+650) and Houston Astros (+650).
Circa has the highest price on the Dodgers to win the World Series at +350, with some sportsbooks still sitting as low as +200.
Bennett said that reflects the prospect, growing ever more likely, that the Dodgers will have to win a one-game wild-card playoff to stay alive if they can’t chase down the Giants.
“We’re happy to take bets on the Dodgers to win the World Series at those odds,” Bennett said.
Summer League
The Boston Celtics are 2½-point favorites against the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Summer League championship game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Celtics are -140 on the money line at the Westgate SuperBook (Kings +120). The total is 172½.
Premier League
Manchester City’s odds of winning the English Premier League dropped from -140 to +112 at Circa Sports after a 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Sunday in the season opener.
Man City is still the solid favorite to successfully defend its title, ahead of Chelsea (+340), Liverpool (+425) and Manchester United (+550).
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.