MLB Betting Picks – Giants vs Cards

If you are looking for a low scoring pitcher’s duel then you will want to watch the San Francisco Giants take on the St. Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park tonight.

The San Francisco Giants send two-time CY Young winner Tim Lincecum to the mound against Jaime Garcia. We know Lincecum’s credentials but we should point out that the Cardinals rotation ERA is a low 2.82, which leads the NL.

The MLB odds makers considered all this when making the betting lines, the game totals is an incredibly low 6½ runs. They like Lincecum and have the Giants as -175 MLB moneyline favorites; the comeback on the Cardinals is +155.

MLB Betting Odds
April 23, 2010
St Louis Cardinals +1½ -155 +155
Jaime Garcia – L
San Francisco Giants -1½ +135 -175
Tim Lincecum – R
Game Totals 6½
Location: AT&T Park – San Francisco CA
Game Time: 10:15 P
TV:FSMW

The Giants are slowly meeting the expectations handicappers had set out for them, they surprised early by scoring 6.2 runs a game over the first 11 games but have settled in to only five runs in their past four games. The offense for the Giants will be a concern all year long, they just don’t have the bats to match their incredible pitching but their pitching will keep them in most games and close to the top of the NL West when the season is over.

Lincecum has been spectacular, as usual, in his first three starts, allowing just 2 runs over 20 innings for an ERA of 0.90 and it’s come on the strength of hold opponents to just .178 at the plate. He’s still averaging over a strikeout an inning, with 24 K’s in 20 innings. There has been some buzz about Roy Halladay winning this season’s NL CY Young but it doesn’t look like Tim Lincecum is ready to relinquish the title of the NL’s best pitcher.

The St. Louis Cardinals will need to hope for better luck against Lincecum as they have lost every time they’ve faced him. The 2009 NL MVP Albert Pujols has had some success; he went 12 for 21 with four homers against the Giants last season and was 3 for 8 with three strikeouts against Lincecum.

Jaime Garcia, starting his first full season in the big leagues has been impressive in his own right. In his first two starts Garcia is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA, holding batters to a .116 batting average. This will be only the fourth start of his career. When you watch this game tonight, notice how Garcia’s delivery is very similar to his opponent tonight, while not as pronounced at Tim Lincecum, Garcia has a very over the top delivery. The trouble with that is he is very slow to the plate and if the Giants can get their speedsters on base, they can steal on Garcia all day long.

I never want to bet against Tim Lincecum but I don’t know about this recent funk the batters have been in, the total is ridiculously low but considering Lincecum’s dominance and the Giants sleepy bats the under 6½ runs isn’t as scary as it sounds.

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