The San Francisco Giants (9-13, -4.77 Units) are coming off of a poor road trip in which they allowed an average of 5.2 runs per game. They'll hope that Saturday's home date with the Los Angeles Angels (11-11, -1.86 Units) cures some of those woes.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Giants should be in the rare position of being favored in this game. Coming into this series, the team has been a dog in seven of its last eight games, and the last time it won a game as a favorite was back on April 18 against Arizona.
It should be noted as well that the underdog team has won six straight starts which Saturday's starter, Tim Hudson has made for the Giants dating back to last postseason.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Hudson has deserved a better fate than an 0-2 record this year. He is one out shy of having three quality starts in his first four outings, and he only really had one dud to show for his work. The 39-year old has to be careful not to allow too many home runs, as he has three dingers conceded in his last two games, a problem he hasn't historically run into in his career.
Hector Santiago, who is 11 years younger than Hudson, will start on Saturday as well, and he is going to have to work on his control issues. The lefty walked six and plunked a batter in his last start against Texas, and he now has 12 walks in four starts this season, far too many for a man who is just barely clinging to his job.
Still, Santiago has a 2.28 ERA in those four outings, though he is very fortunate not to be in significantly worse shape than that.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're definitely going to err on the side of caution, so we took him out of the game. We'll see how it sets up in a day or two, but right now, we're optimistic that he won't be out too long." – Angels manager Mike Scoscia on Albert Pujols, who has a left hamstring injury which will likely cost him this entire series in San Francisco
SITUATIONAL BETTING
Not having Pujols is really bad news for the Angels, especially in the late innings when they need to get big time hits. From the seventh inning on, the Halos are batting just .188 as a team, the worst mark in baseball, and that's something to surely keep in mind in live betting as this game winds down.
PROP TALK
Santiago might not really have a great command of the strike zone, but he is going against a batting order which strikes out a ton. The Giants have struck out an average of 7.3 times per game this season, and they haven't drawn nearly enough walks to counter all of that out. Santiago isn't a huge strikeout pitcher, but he has had a number of games in his career in which he has fanned at least six. This could be another one of those games.
ANALYSIS & PREDICTION
Having Hudson on the mound should be a plus for the Giants, but we are really worried about what we have seen out of him of late. His velocity is all over the place, and he is leaving balls up in the zone, and these Halos have enough mashers in the lineup, even without Pujols, to do some real damage.
Sure, the late-inning woes concern us, and we don't like the way that the Angels are pitching right now in relief either, but the Giants are generating nothing offensively. If LA can get four or five off of Hudson relatively early on, it should coast to a victory from there.
Los Angeles 5, San Francisco 3
The baseball betting odds for this game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers and adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in, and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Los Angeles Angels and the San Francisco Giants will start at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA. The matchup will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1.
