Coach Fletcher’s Saturday Free Pick
5:05 pm San Francisco Giants at Washington Nationals
The Pick Washington -159 Pinnacle
Nationals Look to Hand Giants 6th Straight Loss
The Giants (42-40) are in a tailspin and things don’t bode well for Sunday’s game either. SF just put Tim Lincecum and Tim Hudson on the DL where Hunter Pence has been since 6/12. Without Pence in the lineup the Giants have gone 8-13 and are currently riding a 5 game losing streak. Closer Santiago Castillo is probably unavailable with a “tired arm.” The Nats (45-36) pounded Madison Bumgarner Saturday in a 9-3 victory and a win Sunday looks likely.
Giants Strength Has Been Starting Pitching and Bullpen
It was pitching that helped the Giants win their 3rd World Series in 5 years in 2014. And it is pitching that has ultimately led to their 5 consecutive defeats.
Giants Nationals
** 6.08 era during losing streak ** 2.33 era last 3
** Bullpen era over 8.00 in last 8 ** Bullpen 3.39 for season
** 4.49 overall era on road ** 2.89 overall era at home
** 5.19 era last 3 ** 2.66 era last 3
Vogelson, Giants Zimmerman, Nationals
** 6-6, 3.92 overall era ** 6-5, overall 3.16 era
** 8 quality starts ** 13 quality starts (tied for 2nd in MLB)
** 4.19 season era as starter ** 3.16 season era as starter
** 5.04 era on road ** 2.39 era at home
** 1.93 era last 3 ** 1.19 last 3
** 1-2, 6.67 era vs Nationals ** 1.99 era vs Giants in last 8 starts
** 10 runs last 17 inn vs Nats ** 4 runs last 22 2/3 inn vs Giants
When you take away the starting pitching and bullpen effectiveness from any team, that team has trouble winning games. That’s what has happened to SF. Expect the Nats to be pumped up tomorrow after dispatching SF ace Bumgarner yesterday.
Washington Has a Slight Edge Offensively but SF is Trending Down
Giants Nationals
** 4.22 overall season ** 4.33 overall season
** 3.54 on road ** 3.81 on road
Giants Nationals
** 9.30 hits per game ** 8.64 hits per game
** 10.05 hits per game road ** 8.27 hits per game home
** .270 season batting average ** .256 season batting average
** .281 batting average away ** .254 batting average at home
** 31-33 vs RHP ** 33-30 vs RHP
While the Giants do own a slight edge offensively, it hasn’t been visible as of late. They’ve scored 16 runs in their last 5 games; the Nats have scored 19.
Odds and Ends
Giants Nationals
** Losers of 5 straight ** Winners of 11 of last 14
** + .2 run differential over season ** + .4 run differential over season
** 21-20 on road ** 24-14 at home
** 26-28 at night ** 25-23 at night
Coach’s Conclusion
The Giants are better than their last 5 games indicate. That we know. But baseball is a game of streaks and with the SF pitching on a downward trend and the bull pen blowing up, losing streaks will follow. Today the slumping Giants play a Nationals team fresh off of knocking last year’s World Series out of the game. The Giants aren’t the same team without Hunter Pence (8-13) and are likely to be without their closer and perhaps Angel Pagan as well. Zimmerman rates a huge edge on the mound and should pitch the Nats to another victory.
The Pick Washington -159
Good luck!