How to watch Dodgers-Yankees, betting odds, ticket prices and more

Sometimes it really helps to have all that money.

The big spenders Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will meet in a matchup of World Series heavyweights starting Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Yankees ranked second in payroll this season at $311 million while the Dodgers were third at $266 million, according to the latest MLB projections.

The two franchises are among the most successful in the sport. The Yankees just won their 41st American League pennant and the Dodgers their 25th National League championship.

New York is seeking its 28th World Series title, but its first since 2009, the Dodgers’ eighth and second in a five-year span.

Here’s a look at some things to watch for as the series begins:

Ohtani vs Judge

The series pits two of this generation’s greatest sluggers against each other: LA’s Shohei Ohtani and New York’s Aaron Judge.

Ohtani became first player in baseball history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a regular season, hitting the milestone on September 19 with the second of three homers against the Marlins. He largely kept up that production in the playoffs, batting .286 with three homers and 10 RBI.

Judge had another huge regular season, leading the big leagues with 58 homers. He also hit .322 with 144 RBI. The 32-year-old has been a bit quiet these playoffs, batting .161 with two homers and six RBI.

Unknown heroes

The Ohtani vs. Judge matchup will certainly get the most attention, but both teams have other players who have played so far in October.

Veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton is having an excellent postseason, batting .294 with five homers and 11 RBI, earning AL Championship Series MVP. The 34-year-old has battled injuries and inconsistency since joining the Yankees in 2018, but he could cement his place in franchise history with a big World Series.

The Dodgers go through October with an unlikely middle-of-the-order threat – 5-foot-10, 193-pound Tommy Edman.

Edman was acquired at the trade deadline from the Cardinals and has been invaluable this postseason. He is batting .341 and hit a two-run homer in the team’s NLCS victory over the Mets on Sunday. He won the NLCS MVP.

Hot ticket

It will take deep pockets to make it to this year’s Fall Classic – for the teams and for the fans.

The lowest question the price of the ticket on the resale market for either game was in the $1,200-$1,300 range, according to Stubhub.

StubHub said Monday that sales surpassed last year’s final numbers and were four times the pace of the 2022 series. Sales for Games 3-5 in New York were 40 percent higher than for Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Los Angeles.

Rule changes

Many of the recent changes to the rules of baseball are still in place in the postseason, including the pitch clock, a ban on extreme infield swings and a limit on how many times a pitcher can disengage. The pitch timer was a huge game changer for the sport and was widely celebrated as cutting playing time by around half an hour.

There’s one rule that doesn’t make the postseason cut: the automatic runner in extra innings.

During the MLB regular season, if a game goes to extra innings, a runner is placed at second base to start the 10th inning when each team bats. That doesn’t happen in the postseason. The extra innings will be played the same as the previous nine.

Favorite bets

The Dodgers (-130) are the current betting favorites to win the World Series, according to BetMGM Sports betting. Yankees underdogs are at +110.

How to track

All seven games will be televised on Fox. They are also available on Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV and YouTube TV.

World Series Schedule

Game 1: New York at Los Angeles, Friday, 8:08 p.m. EDT

Game 2: New York at Los Angeles, Saturday, 8:08 p.m. EDT

Game 3: Los Angeles at New York, Oct. 28, 8:08 p.m. EDT

Game 4: Los Angeles at New York, Oct. 29, 8:08 p.m. EDT

Game 5: Los Angeles at New York, Oct. 30, 8:08 p.m. EDT (if necessary)

Game 6: New York at Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 8:08 p.m. EDT (if necessary)

Game 7: New York at Los Angeles, Nov. 2, 8:08 p.m. EDT (if necessary)

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB