With the amount of solid baseball the Dodgers and Padres have played over the last 10 or so days, you’d think the San Francisco Giants’ reign of the NL West would be on life support. That’s hardly been the case with Gabe Kapler’s troops continuing to rack up win after win at online sportsbooks. After taking two of three from the Oakland A’s over the weekend, San Fran still sits perched atop the division standings and continues to be the story of the baseball betting season by a country mile. The same can’t and won’t be said of the Arizona Diamondbacks who only just recently snapped a 17-game losing streak this past week, but still went on to drop both series played against the Brewers and aforementioned Friars. Linemakers are likely to have Johnny Cueto and the visitors installed exorbitant road chalk when they invade the desert to take on Merrill Kelly and the Snakes in the opener of this extended series.
First pitch for this NL West scuffle between the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks is scheduled for Thursday, July 1, 2021, at 9:40 p.m. ET from Chase Field. The matchup will air live on ESPN. Bet on MLB odds and player props at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
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Odds Analysis
Now sitting 23 games over the breakeven point and owning a semi-comfortable 4-game lead over the Dodgers for division bragging rights, the Giants enter the fourth month of the season up over $2K for MLB bettors that’ve backed them in all 77 played games. Brandon Crawford and his mates have been able to get the job done at home 26-11, $912 and more importantly on the road where their 24-16 overall and up nearly $1200. You have to go all the way back to May 21-23 to find the last time it dropped a series. The Giants have also won eight straight series openers! At the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the D’backs whose 22 wins are the fewest in the league. With that, it comes as no surprise to see Torey Lovullo’s squad clocking in as the absolute worst bet in the game costing those that backed them over $3K. Their 12 overall home wins are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the fewest in the league.
Probable Pitchers
Johnny Cueto R: The right-hander is one of many feel-good stories the Giants have written to this point of the season. While not nearly as dominant as he once was from his earlier days with the Reds and Giants, the veteran has still been able to get the job done. He’ll enter start No. 13 the owner of a 3.63 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and .282 batting average against. The pitching line looks to be legit as well evidenced by a 3.79 FIP that’s down to 2.17 over the last week. Cueto is simply in a groove right now having just logged wins in each of his last two starts by tossing 13 combined innings of 11 hit and 3 ER ball at the Phillies and A’s. He’ll oppose an Arizona offense ranked No. 24 in batting average and No. 28 in OPS against right-handed pitching. Cueto went five innings and allowed eight hits and 4 ER with 5 K and no walks in a no-decision effort at Zona back on May 26.
Merrill Kelly R: The D’backs rank No. 26 overall in the quality start department. Kelly might only own five outings of quality through 15 made starts, but two of them occurred in each of his last two trips to the bump against the Brewers at home and Padres on the road. In fact, the only two games Arizona won dating back to June 1 were the right-hander’s last two starts! Could it be that the third-year hurler has turned a corner? While that’s still to be determined, Kelly looks to be in a solid groove right now having allowed just 16 hits and 8 ER with a K/BB ratio of 20:6 over his last 21 innings. This will be his third look at the Giants in 2021. In the two prior starts, he took a no-decision and loss after allowing nine hits and 6 ER with a 10:3 K/BB ratio through nine combined innings.
Giants vs. Diamondbacks Prediction
If nothing else, the Snakes get a shot to eat into their laughable 28.5-game deficit with the division leaders in town through the Fourth of July. Sooner or later, all these crazy finishes that’ve gone the Giants way are going to catch up to them. On the flipside, the Diamondbacks are due some positive regression after struggling mightily since getting out to a pretty decent start in April. Though Arizona went on to drop the series at home to the Brew Crew as well as the weekend set in Petco, the team looked much different. It competed. It pitched decently in spots and the offense awakened from its slumber. Cueto’s been a much different pitcher on the road 4.97 ERA/.353 BAA than at home 2.81 ERA/.236 BAA. Kelly’s really looked the part with his hits per nine innings down to 6.4 and walks per nine innings down to 1.3 in his two most recent starts. If that trend continues, the Snakes will be rabid dawgs in the opener. Back the full game bet on Arizona with a first five as well just in case the Giants find a way to luck box their way to another win running up against the D’backs No. 28 ranked bullpen.
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