The San Francisco Giants (42-36 SU, +2.16 Units) have been a strong road team all season long. However, this East Coast swing, continuing on Friday against the red hot Washington Nationals (43-34 SU, +1.86 Units) could spell trouble.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Jake Peavy has been on the disabled list for basically the entire season, but he'll be back on the bump on Friday night for the first time since April.
What can we really expect out of Peavy? We're not all that sure. He only last 4.0 and 3.2 innings in his two starts before hurting his back, and his six rehab starts didn't have encouraging results against sub-par hitting.
Now, Peavy has to go up against a Washington lineup which has just crushed the baseball over the course of the last two weeks to the tune of a .305 batting average as a unit.
The really bad news is going to come for Peavy in those middling innings. The Giants have battered their bullpen of late, and though they did have an off day just before this road trip started in Miami on Tuesday night, Matt Cain is going to come off of the DL as well this week, just one day before Peavy. If Cain can't last into the deep innings as most suspect will be the case, Peavy could be left high and dry or give way to a tired bullpen.
Either way, the end result isn't good for live bettors.
Furthermore, Gio Gonzalez has had plenty of rest to get ready for this bout. He was skipped in the rotation for all intents and purposes, though he did toss two innings on Saturday before getting the rest of his start rained out.
It's a shame for Gonzalez, too. He had tossed nine straight scoreless innings dating back to his last start before the rain came, and he had only allowed a total of eight base runners in that stretch.
If Gonzalez can get out of the first two innings in good shape, the Nationals are probably the wise guy bets in live betting.
ADVANCED STATS
You'd think that the Nats should be scrambling right now with Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth all on the disabled list.
However, here comes Bryce Harper to put the franchise on his back. The young outfielder already has 24 homers this season, but his advanced stats are even more impressive.
Harper has an ISO of .377, 42 points higher than any active player in the game, and though his BABIP of .363 is probably going to have to come down at some point, that slugging percentage of .715 probably isn't going to budge all that much.
Simply put, this is the best power hitter in baseball right now, and with Peavy just coming off of the DL, that could be bad news for the Giants when he is due up to bat.
TALKING BULLPENS
It's really the middle of the San Fran bullpen which has us concerned in this one. Yusmeiro Petit is very likely going to be called upon either Thursday or Friday for a couple innings of work in long relief, and we just don't like that thought. He has a 4.11 ERA this season, and in his last two outings, he allowed seven runs over eight innings.
If the Giants go the more conventional route of playing in games with their pen, we know that there isn't a lot here. Javier Lopez is nothing more than a lefty specialist, and if you throw him and closer Santiago Casilla out of the equation, there isn't a man in this pen with more than 16 innings pitched who has better than a 4.32 ERA save for George Kontos.
Essentially, that means that a big inning could be hiding around any turn for the Nats, and live bettors should proceed with caution appropriately, knowing that huge line swings could be in the cards.
The MLB lines for this Friday contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker's live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Need to fund your account before the big game but don't have your computer? No problem! BookMaker Sportsbook now offers a mobile betting cashier so you can deposit money directly from your smartphone. Don't miss out on getting paid because you couldn't bet. Click here, and deposit at BookMaker now! The ballgame pitting the Washington Nationals versus the San Francisco Giants will commence Friday, July 3, 2015 at 6:05 p.m. ET at Nationals Park in Washington DC. You can watch the contest live on ESPN.
