September is less than a week away, and there will be several critical series determining postseason fates in the home stretch. The Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing in an important three-game series for each squad. The Dodgers are tied atop the NL West standings with the San Diego Padres and will be looking to avoid having to play in the Wild Card round. Meanwhile, the Reds are just 1.5 games back of the New York Mets for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. The first battle between the Reds and Dodgers in Los Angeles takes place on Monday, Aug. 25, at 10:10 p.m. ET on MLB Network.

Those interested in MLB betting at the top sportsbooks can get the latest Reds vs. Dodgers odds, predictions and player props from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times.

The Reds will be sending out flamethrower Hunter Greene (5-3, 2.63 ERA), while Emmet Sheehan (4-2, 4.17 ERA) gets the nod for the Dodgers. Greene matched a season high with 12 punchouts in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels. Sheehan has had a bumpy August thus far, allowing nine earned runs (11 runs overall) in 16 innings this month for a 5.06 ERA—which has raised his ERA this season from 3.00 to 4.17. 

Greene’s strikeout prop at FanDuel Sportsbook sits at 6.5 (Over -120, Under -112), while Sheehan’s is at 5.5 (Over +120, Under -154). The SportsLine Projection Model rates both Greene’s Over (projection of 6.8 strikeouts) and Sheehan’s Under (projection of 5.2 strikeouts) as 3-star recommendations out of 5 stars. 

Shohei Ohtani is tied for the second-most home runs in all of baseball with 45, along with Kyle Schwarber. Ohtani doesn’t have a lot of time to catch MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh (49), but he does have +172 odds to leave the yard in Monday’s game. Fellow Dodger Teoscar Hernandez is next at +360, while Reds star Elly De La Cruz is right at +370. 

Here are the SportsLine Projection Model’s picks for Reds vs. Dodgers on Monday:

CINCINNATI REDS at LOS ANGELES DODGERS | 8/25 | 10:10 PM ET

Money line
Pick: Reds +122
Cincinnati wins in 44% of simulations

Run line
Pick: Reds +1.5 (-169)
Cincinnati covers in 65% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Over/Under
Pick: Over 8 (-108)
The Over hits in 59.6% of simulations

Projected score: Dodgers 5.2, Reds 4.7