Both the Giants and the Athletics have their backs against the wall as they each trail 2-0 in their opening round series in the post season. To compound things, they must both win on the road in order to keep their seasons going.
As I make my Parlay of the Day, do we look at what these
teams did in the regular season in getting here, or should baseball bettors
base their predictions solely off of their last 2 games?
San Francisco at Cincinnati
The Reds have to be feeling confident at home, and with
starter Homer Bailey taking the mound tonight, the confidence will only rise.
Bailey hasn't let up a single hit run in his last 13 innings (2 starts) and has
only allowed 4 hits while giving up just 1 walk and 16 strikeouts.
History maker
On September 28th, Bailey pitched a no-hitter against the
Pittsburgh Pirates, giving up just 1 walk and 10 strikeouts; just 1 walk away
from the elusive perfect game. Nevertheless, these are impressive numbers and
the National League West Division champion San Francisco Giants will need to
dig down deep in order to deal with the unstoppable Homer Bailey.
Vogelsong
The Giants send the formidable Ryan Vogelsong (14-9, 3.37)
to the mound, and normally this would be an even pitching matchup, but Bailey's
recent success has caused the MLB odds makers to give him the slight edge.
In his last 3 starts, Vogelsong hasn't let up more than a
run on each occasion, but has also went 6 innings or less each time out.
Cincinnati has a slight pitching edge and against a merely
average Giants offense, this could spell doom for San Fran.
Dead wood
The Giants have only scored 2 runs in the 2 games combined
and were shutout by Bronson Arroyo in a 2-hitter in their last game. Players
like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Pablo Sandoval will need to come through if
a clutch situation arises.
MLB betting lines have the Reds as a -143 betting favorite
and the total for the game is 8 runs.
How can you go against Homer Bailey in this situation, but
then again this is also a do-or-die situation for the Giants. Capper Willie Bee has decided to place a pick on a Giants win tonight, but I'm going to lean
towards the side. Both pitchers have pitched exceptionally well and 8 runs is a
little more than I expected. Take the UNDER.
MLB Parlay Pick #1 - San Francisco/Cincinnati UNDER 8
Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics have been very disappointing in the
post-season after such a dramatic comeback to take the American League West
Division by embarrassing the Texas Rangers. Oakland has had a bunch of
contributors offensively and looked like a team that couldn't be beaten.
The Detroit Tigers pulled off a 5-4 win on Sunday and where
they have the advantage is not necessarily team depth but they have a great
pitching staff headed by Justin Verlander and a two headed monster led by AL
Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. By the way, Cabrera remains hot as he was 3
for 5 with 2 doubles in game 2.
They key to game 3
The Athletics excel at big hits and that's not a concern.
What they must worry about is the pitching of starter Brett Anderson (4-2, 2.57).
Anderson only started 4 games this season and after 4 great starts, he's
pitched poorly in his last 2 outings. Anderson actually pitched against Detroit
in his last outing on September 19th and gave up 3 runs, 3 hits, and 3 walks in
2 1/3 innings in a loss. He's clearly the weak link in this game and the game
will come down to the Athletics offense against Anibal Sanchez.
Normally I would be attracted to the Athletics in a
desperate game 3 spot, but Brett Anderson is a real problem.
The lines at most of the top MLB betting sites list the Athletics as -135 betting
favorites and the total for the game is 7 runs.
I lean towards the Tigers but the Athletics always come
through when they need to. The pitching is somewhat suspect in this game as
even Anibal Sanchez is just 9-12 during the regular season. This game should go
OVER the total.
MLB Parlay Pick #2 - Oakland/Detroit OVER 7
MLB Picks Parlay- San Francisco/Cincinnati UNDER 8 and Oakland/Detroit
OVER 7
Good luck everyone!