Diamondbacks, minus Webb, visit the Giants
Diamondbacks, minus Webb, visit the Giants
Though Arizona ace Brandon Webb won't be part of the series while the righthander is shelved with shoulder problems, there will still be plenty of good pitching in San Francisco this weekend when the Giants host the Diamondbacks. The Snakes hand the ball to Dan Haren for Friday's opener at AT&T Park. Saturday finds Tim Lincecum on the mound for SF with Randy Johnson slated to go Sunday.
Many handicappers picked the San Francisco Giants as a sleeper futures play in the National League West back in spring training. Almost every wise guy that did so based their prediction on the expectation the Giants’ starting rotation would be among the best in baseball. Judging by the way San Francisco’s starters have performed so far, there’s a ton of sharps wondering if they should apply for a bailout from sportsbooks.
With their rotation doing about as well as Wall Street, the Giants (2-6, -4.17 units) host the Arizona Diamondbacks (3-6, -4.40 units) for a three-game series beginning on Friday night at AT&T Park.
Betting odds at The Greek have San Fran (-140) the series favorites over the D-Backs (+120).
San Fran’s starters went into Thursday night’s series finale with Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium with a bloated 6.98 ERA, which is pretty disappointing considering the staff features three former Cy Young award winners. This includes last year’s winner and Saturday’s starter Tim Lincecum, who with a 0-1 record and 7.56 ERA actually has the best statistics of the three arms the Giants will run out against the Diamondbacks.
Enigmatic lefthander Jonathan Sanchez (0-1, 9.64 ERA) gets the ball in the opener (10:10 PM ET) for San Francisco, which had lost five straight and six of seven games against the moneyline heading into Thursday night’s tilt with the Dodgers. Sanchez was roughed up for five runs over 4.2 innings in the Giants’ (+158) 6-3 loss at San Diego last Saturday, as the lefthander struck out seven and walked five.
Oddsmakers have San Fran in the range of +135 underdogs for Friday’s opener, with Arizona priced as -155 favorites. Early reports on the moneyline have the public backing the Giants, which is surprising considering the D-Backs are sending Dan Haren (0-2, 2.08 ERA) to the hill.
The Diamondbacks aren’t exactly rolling into the weekend, with moneyline losses in four of their last five games since their 9-4 payday as -106 home chalk over the Dodgers last Friday. Arizona dropped two of three in its recent three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals, including a 12-7 loss as -107 home faves on Wednesday.
Jon Garland was tagged for seven runs over 3.2 innings to take the loss, while Mark Reynolds and Eric Byrnes each smashed two-run dingers for the D-Backs. Byrnes’ homer is especially promising for Arizona, which ranks 14th in the NL in runs, 15th in on-base percentage (.295), and 14th in OPS (.692). The scrappy leftfielder is hitting only .150 with a big fly and six runs batted in this season, and is batting a mere .204 since signing a three-year, $30 million dollar contract part way through last season.
The Giants have the fortune of missing Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb on the weekend, but only because the sinkerballer is on the disabled list. Webb is currently sidelined with what the team is calling bursitis in his right shoulder, and is expected to remain on the shelf until the beginning of May.
For Saturday’s Game 2 (4:05 PM ET) the D-Backs hand the ball to the crafty Doug Davis (0-2, 4.15 ERA), who was on the losing end of a 2-1 decision against the Cardinals on Monday. Davis gave up only two runs over eight innings, but it wasn’t enough to lift Arizona (-106) to the payday.
It’s a battle of young and old for the getaway game on Sunday (4:05 PM ET), as Randy Johnson (0-2, 11.42 ERA) makes his first start against Arizona since leaving the desert for the Bay Area in the offseason. The Big Unit was rocked for seven runs in 3.2 innings in San Fran’s (+170) 11-1 drubbing at the hands of Los Angeles on Monday. The loss represented Johnson’s first-ever defeat at Dodger Stadium, where he was 7-0 lifetime heading into the shelling.
The Diamondbacks go with 24-year old Max Scherzer (0-0, 5.40 ERA) for the finale, with the righty coming off a no-decision in his last outing. Scherzer surrendered three runs over five innings in Arizona’s 7-6 victory against St. Louis on Tuesday, as the D-Backs cashed as +119 pups.
Arizona won the season series last year, cashing 11 of the 18 meetings against the moneyline between the NL West rivals. The teams also played over the listed number in 11 of the 18 matchups, largely because the betting public overestimates the strength of the pitching in the division.
The total for Friday’s series opener is currently set at 7½.
Though Arizona ace Brandon Webb won't be part of the series while the righthander is shelved with shoulder problems, there will still be plenty of good pitching in San Francisco this weekend when the Giants host the Diamondbacks. The Snakes hand the ball to Dan Haren for Friday's opener at AT&T Park. Saturday finds Tim Lincecum on the mound for SF with Randy Johnson slated to go Sunday.
Many handicappers picked the San Francisco Giants as a sleeper futures play in the National League West back in spring training. Almost every wise guy that did so based their prediction on the expectation the Giants’ starting rotation would be among the best in baseball. Judging by the way San Francisco’s starters have performed so far, there’s a ton of sharps wondering if they should apply for a bailout from sportsbooks.
With their rotation doing about as well as Wall Street, the Giants (2-6, -4.17 units) host the Arizona Diamondbacks (3-6, -4.40 units) for a three-game series beginning on Friday night at AT&T Park.
Betting odds at The Greek have San Fran (-140) the series favorites over the D-Backs (+120).
San Fran’s starters went into Thursday night’s series finale with Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium with a bloated 6.98 ERA, which is pretty disappointing considering the staff features three former Cy Young award winners. This includes last year’s winner and Saturday’s starter Tim Lincecum, who with a 0-1 record and 7.56 ERA actually has the best statistics of the three arms the Giants will run out against the Diamondbacks.
Enigmatic lefthander Jonathan Sanchez (0-1, 9.64 ERA) gets the ball in the opener (10:10 PM ET) for San Francisco, which had lost five straight and six of seven games against the moneyline heading into Thursday night’s tilt with the Dodgers. Sanchez was roughed up for five runs over 4.2 innings in the Giants’ (+158) 6-3 loss at San Diego last Saturday, as the lefthander struck out seven and walked five.
Oddsmakers have San Fran in the range of +135 underdogs for Friday’s opener, with Arizona priced as -155 favorites. Early reports on the moneyline have the public backing the Giants, which is surprising considering the D-Backs are sending Dan Haren (0-2, 2.08 ERA) to the hill.
The Diamondbacks aren’t exactly rolling into the weekend, with moneyline losses in four of their last five games since their 9-4 payday as -106 home chalk over the Dodgers last Friday. Arizona dropped two of three in its recent three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals, including a 12-7 loss as -107 home faves on Wednesday.
Jon Garland was tagged for seven runs over 3.2 innings to take the loss, while Mark Reynolds and Eric Byrnes each smashed two-run dingers for the D-Backs. Byrnes’ homer is especially promising for Arizona, which ranks 14th in the NL in runs, 15th in on-base percentage (.295), and 14th in OPS (.692). The scrappy leftfielder is hitting only .150 with a big fly and six runs batted in this season, and is batting a mere .204 since signing a three-year, $30 million dollar contract part way through last season.
The Giants have the fortune of missing Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb on the weekend, but only because the sinkerballer is on the disabled list. Webb is currently sidelined with what the team is calling bursitis in his right shoulder, and is expected to remain on the shelf until the beginning of May.
For Saturday’s Game 2 (4:05 PM ET) the D-Backs hand the ball to the crafty Doug Davis (0-2, 4.15 ERA), who was on the losing end of a 2-1 decision against the Cardinals on Monday. Davis gave up only two runs over eight innings, but it wasn’t enough to lift Arizona (-106) to the payday.
It’s a battle of young and old for the getaway game on Sunday (4:05 PM ET), as Randy Johnson (0-2, 11.42 ERA) makes his first start against Arizona since leaving the desert for the Bay Area in the offseason. The Big Unit was rocked for seven runs in 3.2 innings in San Fran’s (+170) 11-1 drubbing at the hands of Los Angeles on Monday. The loss represented Johnson’s first-ever defeat at Dodger Stadium, where he was 7-0 lifetime heading into the shelling.
The Diamondbacks go with 24-year old Max Scherzer (0-0, 5.40 ERA) for the finale, with the righty coming off a no-decision in his last outing. Scherzer surrendered three runs over five innings in Arizona’s 7-6 victory against St. Louis on Tuesday, as the D-Backs cashed as +119 pups.
Arizona won the season series last year, cashing 11 of the 18 meetings against the moneyline between the NL West rivals. The teams also played over the listed number in 11 of the 18 matchups, largely because the betting public overestimates the strength of the pitching in the division.
The total for Friday’s series opener is currently set at 7½.