Giants+134
Giants vs. Dodgers Expert MLB Analysis and Pick (Archive)
The Giants and Dodgers will be back at it again after Los Angeles eked out a 3-2 decision in the first of a two-game set on Monday night. Let’s analyze this Tuesday night showdown between two of the best in all of baseball and keep cashing our MLB picks!
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 – 10:10 PM EDT at Dodger Stadium
The Dodgers drew first blood, and drew it early, as Mookie Betts and Max Muncy went long on Giants’ stater Anthony DeSclafani to make it 2-0 in back-to-back at-bats. Will Smith would also take DeSclafani deep in the fourth inning while LaMonte Wade Jr. and Brandon Crawford would return the favor with solo shots of their own off of LA starter, Trevor Bauer.
When the curtain closed on this one, the Dodgers would escape with a 3-2 win with all five runs coming via the long ball. Ironically, the Giants outhit the Dodgers, 11-5, and left a whopping 11 runners on base, and went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
"Everyone made big pitches in critical situations," said Bauer, who has gone at least six innings in all but one of his 17 starts this season. "Everyone did a good job of working out of trouble. It’s about being able to work out of jams and execute enough pitches to keep them off the board."
San Francisco’s DeSclafani had been on a tear recently, having won his last four until he met the Dodgers last night. It was the third time he has seen LA this year and his ERA is still stinging from the initial meeting on May 23rd when he surrendered 10 runs in two-plus innings. Tuesday night the 31-year-old righty was solid despite the three dingers he allowed.
Pitching Matchup
San Francisco is still 2 ½ games in front of LA in the NL West but the lead is tenuous at best against the defending World Series champs. Therefore, it is up to the Giants’ ace, Kevin Gausman (8-1, 1.49 ERA, .76 WHIP), to earn back the ground they gave away to the Dodgers last night. The 30-year-old righty is enjoying a career-best season and spun another gem in his last outing when he held the Angels to one run on four hits over seven innings of work en route to a 9-3 extra-innings victory last Wednesday.
Gausman was deprived of the win but he continues to throw lights out after signing a one-year deal with the Giants in the offseason for nearly $19 million, and will likely get a long-term deal when this season is over. Walker Buehler (7-1, 2.51 ERA, .91 WHIP) gets the starting assignment for the Dodgers tonight coming off of a 4-0 loss to the Cubs in which he was hit for three runs on five hits over six innings.
This will be the third time Buehler has faced the Giants with the first coming on May 22nd when he limited San Francisco to one run on six hits over seven innings in a 6-3 victory. Six days later the 26-year-old right-hander would work six full innings and surrender two runs on three hits in what resulted in an 8-5 extra-innings loss.
Wanna Make a Bet?
If you like pitching duels then this is the game for you. At least it shapes up that way but the MLB odds are showing the Dodgers as anywhere between a -143 and -150 favorite. It is much the same as last night’s game when LA was installed as high as a -170 favorite despite the teams, and starting pitchers, being evenly matched. Like last night, I like the Giants in this spot because of all that value the books are giving us. The Giants should have won that Monday night’s game after outhitting LA by more than a 2:1 margin but they didn’t, so no crying about it.
My only concern here is that Gausman’s Cinderella season will strike midnight at some point but if we look back at what he did against this lineup on May 30th when he blanked the Dodgers over six innings and allowed only two hits in San Francisco’s 5-4 win, then why not grab the juice and back the G-Men with Gausman doing it all over again?
MLB Pick: Giants +134 at BetOnline (visit BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.