As they continue to battle for first place in the National League West the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers will open a key series on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, with the hosts as -160 favorites on Bovada’s MLB odds.

Sign up at Bovada NOW and deposit for your 20% Free Bet bonus up to $100.

With just over a month left in the MLB regular season the Giants and Dodgers continue to jockey for position atop the NL West, with both teams still listed as top contenders on the odds to win the NL Pennant. Heading into Sunday’s action the Dodgers were listed at 4/1 on those pennant odds, with the Giants at 6/1. The Nationals led the way at 3/1 odds.

The last time the rivals met, however, the Dodgers came away with a sweep of a three-game series – and in San Francisco, no less. Los Angeles won those three contests in late July by a combined score of 19-3, with Clayton Kershaw pitching a shutout in the finale.

And Kershaw will be back on the mound against the Giants on Monday, as he’s Los Angeles’ scheduled starter for the opener of the series. The left-hander is 11-6 on the season with a 2.90 ERA, striking out 165 batters and walking 42 over his 170 2-3 innings of work.

Kershaw fanned seven and gave up five hits in his shutout win over the Giants on July 29, and he also took a hard-luck loss against them on June 26 (two runs over six innings of work). Overall the Dodgers are 7-3 over Kershaw’s last 10 trips to the mound.

The Giants’ probable pitcher for Monday is Madison Bumgarner, who sits at 13-7 with a 2.97 ERA but has yet to face the Dodgers so far this season. The left-hander has pitched his team to a victory on the MLB odds at Bovada in six of his 10 most recent starts.

Tuesday’s projected starters are Tim Lincecum (6-13, 5.45 ERA) for the Giants and Joe Blanton (8-11, 4.96 ERA) for the Dodgers, while Matt Cain (12-5, 2.90 ERA) is set to pitch for San Francisco on Thursday against Los Angeles’ Chris Capuano (11-8, 3.14 ERA).

Overall the Dodgers hold the edge at 5-4 against the Giants through nine games this year. For Monday San Francisco the +140 underdog. The OVER/UNDER is pegged at just 6 runs. There is live play-by-play betting at the book.

Get your MLB odds, props, and futures right now at Bovada. Raise Your Game.