Tim Lincecum is no longer the ace of the San Francisco Giants after Matt Cain threw the franchise’s first-ever no-hitter earlier this week, but there’s a few reasons why he should be one of your top MLB picks on Saturday night.
Giants are playing
solid baseball in June
San Francisco pushed
its record to 11-4 this month with a 4-2 series-opening road win against the
Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Friday night, as the offense is starting to
find its power stroke, homering eight times in the past four games. Seattle will try to snap a six-game losing streak, scoring just 13 runs over
that span, while the team ranks last in the majors with a .197 batting average
at home.
Lincecum hopes some
home cooking turns around his season
Giants starting
pitcher Tim Lincecum (2-7, 6.00 ERA) has watched the club suffer setbacks in
his last eight outings, while he attempts to snap his own five-game losing
streak in the second game of this series. The former first-round
selection just celebrated his 28th birthday last night, and pitched at the
University of Washington during his collegiate years. In six road starts
this year, Lincecum has tallied a 1-3 record and 7.98 ERA, surrendering five
home runs in 29.1 combined frames.
Kevin Millwood (3-5,
3.57 ERA) will be throwing on a couple extra days of rest, leaving his last
start after suffering a slight groin strain, which was unfortunate due to
carrying a no-hitter through six innings at that point. His teammates
picked up where he left off, finishing the 10th combined no-hitter in MLB
history in a 1-0 home win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 8. Millwood will be making his 11th career starts versus the Giants, producing a
5-4 mark and 4.07 ERA, but hasn’t faced them since June 21, 2009.
Smallish totals favor
the Giants
MLB odds makers will
definitely take notice that the Giants are 24-16 when the total is 7 or less
this season, which is a dominating static when considering the Mariners are
10-19 in the same situation. The UNDER is also 9-1-1 in San Francisco’s
last 11 games when the total is set between 7 and 8.5.
Home plate umpire will
allow Lincecum to settle in
Lincecum has started
two games with umpire Sam Holbrook behind home plate, allowing four earned runs
in 12.1 combined innings in those efforts. It will allow the right-hander
to be confident on the mound after surrendering four-or-more earned runs in six
of his last seven starts.
Prediction
The Giants are
actually undervalued in the current MLB betting odds at this point, as the
Mariners have lost their last five games as a home underdog. For this reason I am adding the Giants to my baseball picks tonight, expecting San
Francisco to move to 12-4 in its last 16 interleague games.
Pick: San
Francisco Giants -115