Monday Night Baseball and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks, which will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for a 10:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on ESPN 2.
Betting Odds
San Francisco -135
Arizona +128
Over/ Under: 7.5 U -120
Analysis: The San Francisco are off their 3rd World Series win in the last 5 years, but getting back their this year may be a tough task for this team and a big reason may be that they just don't have the offense to compete right now. The Giants do have a other strong pitching staff but the offense was nearly last in the National League in every major category in the Spring. The Giants have lost Pandoval's bat this year and now Hunter Pence will miss some time. It it has to see this team scoring many runs this year. That will put pressure on a pitching staff that is solid, but also is aging some. Tonight ace Madison Bumgarner gets the ball for the Giants, after going 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA last year, which includes a 2-0 mark and a 2.22 ERA in 4 starts vs the D-Backs last year.
The Arizona Diamondbacks finish 5th in the NL wast with a 64-98 record last year and while they will be improved this year they will still be in a fight to stay out of the basement in the West this year. Offense will not be a problem for this team as they have hitting galore, including Paul Goldschmidt, Mark Trumbo and AJ Pollack to go along with Cuban power hitter Yasmany Tomas and youngster David Peralta. This team will score some runs this year, but they will also give up plenty as the staff and bullpen are not very good right now. Patrick Corbin my be their best starter, but he will miss the beginning of the season and that has Josh Collmenter getting the ball for the D-Backs tonight. Josh was 10-9 with a 3.54 ERA last year, while he is 5-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 18 career games (7 Starts) vs the Giants.
Pick: I will go with the Giants here and a big reason is that they have a huge edge on the mound with Mad Bum over Collmenter. The Giants will have to manufacture runs this year, but they should have some success vs this staff that figuees to be one of the worst in the league this year. The Arizona offense will be good they year, but they have not had success vs Bumgarner in the past and I don't see them having success in this one. The Giants are 16-6 the last 24 meetings in Arizona nd I see that trend continuing here.
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