Sunday MLB Baseball Picks: Braves vs Mets
The road back to respectability clearly goes through the pitching staff for the Cincinnati Reds. They’ve been half a good team this season, mashing the cover off the ball but posting some of the league’s worst pitching numbers.
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Sunday Night Baseball Betting: Reds vs Giants Preview & Pick
Date: Sunday, June 12, 2011
Venue: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Broadcast: ESPN
Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants Betting Lines from BetOnline.com
Money Line: Giants -113
Over/Under: 7
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Cincinnati Reds (32-31 through June 8 )
Edinson Volquez (4-2, 5.74)
Can Edinson Volquez right the ship? He returned from his Triple-A tuneup on June 7 and looked more like vintage Volquez, allowing one run and striking out five in seven innings for the win. The Reds will have to hope he can conquer his ugly history against the Giants on Sunday night. In three career starts against, Volquez has an 8.31 ERA. Inexplicably, he’s 2-1 against them. That’s what happens when you have Joey Votto and Jay Bruce swinging the bats to back you up.
San Francisco Giants (35-27 through June 8 )
Jonathan Sanchez (4-4, 3.51)
Give the defending champs credit for playing exactly as advertised this season. Third in the majors in ERA, first in strikeouts, 28th in runs scored, 26th in batting average. Their last six games have been decided by two runs or less – but they’ve won four of those on the strength of their consistently stellar pitching staff. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Jonathan Sanchez is up to his old tricks for the most part. No one can hit him – opponents bat .205 off him – but he puts everybody on base through his walks. Sanchez’s 45 free passes in 74.1 innings qualify as a lot even by his lofty standards.
MLB Trends:
CIN are 2-7 in their last 9 games following a win.
CIN are 2-7 in their last 9 Sun. games.
CIN are 4-10 in their last 14 road games.
Under is 16-5 in SF last 21 home games.
SF are 7-2 in Sanchezs last 9 home starts.
Under is 5-2-1 in Sanchezs last 8 on grass.
Over is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
The pick:
The Giants will surely be favored at home but I wonder if Cincy can pull a minor upset on Sunday Night
Baseball. It’s funny – Volquez went back to Triple-A to work on his pitches and facing the Giants’ lineup is pretty much like facing a Triple-A lineup. They don’t have many bats that can hurt him. The Red hitters can hurt Sanchez in all sorts of ways. Watch out for Brandon Phillips, who has three homers in just eight career at-bats against Sanchez. I like the Reds on Sunday night.
Reds vs Giants prediction: Reds 5, Giants 3
