MLB Betting – Giants Will Follow Lincecum’s Lead
by Dave D
Both the Giants and the Dodgers are chasing the Padres in the NL West, although the Giants are four games closer than L.A.
The Dodgers just lost two-of-three to those same Padres, while the Giants have won 11 of their last 15.
Location: AT&T Park – San Francisco, CA
Game Time: Friday, July 30th, 2010 – 10:15 PM EST
MLB Betting Odds:
Los Angeles Dodgers +170 Carlos Monasterios – (R)
San Francisco Giants -200 Tim Lincecum –(R)
Run Line
Dodges +1.5 -135
Giants -1.5 +115
Total
O 7 EVEN
U 7 -120
TV: FSPT
The Week That Was: Dodgers
Needing to gain ground in the NL-West, the Dodgers did their best to comply with a strong showing in a four-game series against the Mets.
L.A. took the first game 2-0 behind a gem of a game thrown by Hiroki Kuroda. They ran into Johan Santana in game two and couldn’t get any offense, losing 6-1.
But Los Angeles’ strong pitching returned in the final two games. James Loney hit a 13th inning walk-off homer in a 3-2 game three win.
Clayton Kershaw pitched eight very strong innings in an eventual 1-0 win.
The strong pitching continued in game one against the San Diego Padres. Chad Billingsley threw six scoreless innings and the bullpen did the rest in a 2-0 Dodger win.
But the wheels came off in game two, as the Padres scored six times in the final four innings to win 6-1. L.A. couldn’t salvage the series, losing 3-2 in the finale.
The Dodgers offensive hit a wall this week; they scored only 12 times in seven games.
The Week That Was: Giants
The Giants made a four-game sweep look easy last weekend against the NL-West cellar dwellers known as the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Over the first three games San Fran outscored the D-Backs 20-8. This included a 3-0 shutout in game one and a 10-4 beating in game three.
The series finale had a bit more drama, but the end result was the same. San Francisco needed 10 innings, but was able to defeat Arizona 3-2.
It was the first four-game sweep the Giants had over Arizona in nine years.
The winning streak ended the next night against Florida, as the Marlins edged the Giants 4-3.
Late-inning heroics defined game two, as both Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria hit homers in the eighth inning to lift San Fran to a 6-4 win.
Drama defined game three as well, as the Giants blew a seven-run lead, allowing Florida to tie the game with two runs in the ninth.
Luckily for San Fran fans Andres Torres hit a game-winning single in the 10th to erase the embarrassment.
However no such luck in the finale; the Giants were shut-out 5-0.
MLB Betting Matchup
Monasterios suffered a scare a couple days ago, getting hit in the head by an errant foul ball while he was sitting in the dugout during a game.
Luckily there were no signs of a concussion, and there should be no problems with his start in this game.
The rookie pitcher has just recently made the switch back to the starting rotation after a stint in the bullpen. Monasterios is on a bit of a hot streak, having not let up a run in his last nine innings (two relief appearances, one start).
He’ll be facing one of the best pitchers in the league; no small feat. Although Tim Lincecum’s numbers aren’t as good as his Cy Young years, they’re still damn impressive.
Lincecum is coming off a strong start in Arizona where he pitched eight innings and allowed only two runs. Lincecum is usually dominant against Los Angeles, with the exception of his latest outing against the Dodgers.
Just last week Lincecum lasted only 4 2/3 against LA, allowing five runs on seven hits.
However, that was the last time L.A. scored more than three runs in a game; the Dodgers are struggling and Lincecum can make that continue.
MLB Betting Pick: Giants
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