The first of two winner-take-all game five’s this weekend, the winner of this one will have bragging rights over the entire National League West for the entire 2025 season. Two Japanese superstar pitchers matchup tonight in Yu Darvish and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The rookie will face the San Diego veteran as he looks to lead the Dodgers to an NLCS appearance.
The Padres offense will be looking to bounce back from their awful performance in game four to stun the Dodgers at home. They’ll also look to provide some run support for a guy who’s given them great starts in the past against Los Angeles.
Here’s some picks for what should be one of, if not the most exciting game all postseason.
Padres Moneyline (+120)
The Padres against Yoshinobu Yamamoto have put up great offensive production. The San Diego offense hits .371 against Yamamoto, with a 1.107 OPS. With a travel day before tonight’s game yesterday, the pitching staff should feel rested and be able to get the job done on the road if Darvish can put together another solid start.
Padres Player Props:
Fernando Tatis Jr. Over 1.5 Hits (+200)
Tatis has had a monster postseason up to this point leading the Padres in nearly every offensive category. In three at bats against Yamamoto, Tatis has three hits and a double. He sees the rookie right hander very well and he is not very successful against this Padres lineup. If Tatis gets two at bats against Yamamoto, he could very well record two hits right there.
Xander Bogaerts Over 0.5 Hits
Another Padres bat that has a great history against Yamamoto is Bogaerts. In six at bats against Yamamoto, Bogaerts has three hits for a .500 batting average with a double and two RBI. He’s been solid in this series recording four hits, and we’re taking him to record another tonight in game five.
Yu Darvish Under 2.5 Earned Runs
Darvish has historically put up great numbers against the Dodgers. He’s held their lineup to a .195 batting average across 266 at bats, and has a 2.63 record on the road. After his last outing went seven strong innings with one earned run, we’re taking him to hit that under again.
Dodgers Player Props:
Tommy Edman Over 0.5 Hits
A majority of the Dodgers lineup has not posted great numbers against Darvish as we’ve already outlined. One hitter however who seems to see Darvish well is Tommy Edman. In 18 at bats against Darvish, Edman has six hits for a .333 batting average. The Dodgers will need Edman to get on base to manufacture some runs tonight, so we’ll take him to get a hit in tonight’s game five.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Over 4.5 Hits Allowed
The only thing that’s concerning about this pick is Yamamoto may not have a long enough leash to get him to five hits. If he starts getting into trouble early he may be taken out before the line hits and if he shoves, then we’ll eat the loss. His numbers against San Diego are just not good, and at plus odds we’ll take this line for the final prop pick of the NLDS.