MLB Baseball
2012-05-08 - San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Baseball : North America : MLB
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012, 10:10PM US
(3:10AM GMT)
PREVIEW
The San Francisco Giants are 14-15 after last nights 9-1 hammering at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are 19-10, with the best record in the NL. Tonight they play Game 2 of a 3 game series.
San Francisco are in a bit of a slump, having dropped 5 of their last 7 games. They send out Ryan Vogelsong who is 0-2 with a 3.42ERA. He is really not being helped by the lack of run support from his Giants teammates, and suffered yet another loss in his last outing, when he gave up just 1 earned run against Miami over 7 innings.
I'm more interested in Vogelsong's head-to-head here against the Dodgers, who own him. There is a 2-2 split, but Vogelsong has a 4.68ERA in 13 career appearances against the NL's best team.
The Dodgers send out their ace, Clayton Kershaw, who is 2-0 with a solid 2.63ERA. The southpaw gave up some runs in his last outing, against Colorado, so will be looking to get things back in order tonight. The Rockies managed to score 5 runs off him in just over 7 innings, which would be a concern, except that was a one off and he has been money in his appearances against the Giants.
In 12 career meetings, 11 of them starts, Kershaw has owned San Francisco, going 6-1 with a 1.25ERA! Collectively, the Giants are averaging just .179 against him with their bats.
Los Angeles also have a change in the bullpen. Javy Guerra has been dropped as closer after blowing a save on Sunday and he has been replaced by Kenley Jansen. He's a hard throwing closer and a reliable one too. The combination of Kershaw and him make me think it's going to be very, very difficult for the Giants to score any points.
BETTING VERDICT
I'm going with the better pitcher and the better team at home and with the handicap we can get a great price.
The Pick :
Los Angeles Dodgers
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take the LA Dodgers -1.5 @ 2.30 (Pinnacle)
