We didn’t improve our position at all yesterday, due to a push on the over/under that left us with a 1-1-1 record on our Rangers/Twins picks. That puts us at 7-10-1 on the week and in absolute need of a trifecta tonight to mitigate the damage as much as possible. As it stands right now, we would be in the hole -$46.92 if we were to make $10 wagers across the board on each game. Because I’m so late to get posting today, our only option for tonight is Atlanta (84-44) vs. San Francisco (66-63).
The Pitchers
Atlanta’s Jared Shuster (4-2, 5.00 ERA) was just called up to be tonight’s starter. He has three wins in his last five appearances. During that span, he’s allowed an average of 2.6 earned runs per game, but he hasn’t gone deep. However, he hasn’t pitched in the majors since June and he rarely makes it to six innings.
The Giants are going to pull Tristan Beck (3.34 ERA) out of the bullpen for their starter tonight. Beck has made 28 game appearances this season but this will be his first start. In his last five appearances he’s allowing an average of 1.6 earned runs per game, but he’s now on a streak of three consecutive appearances where he hasn’t allowed an earned run. The most Beck has thrown in any one appearance this month was on August 3rd when he went four innings against the Diamondbacks.
The Lineups
Matt Olson has blasted 43 home runs, and knocked in 112 RBI for the Braves, while Ronald Acuna Jr. has a .333 batting average. Atlanta has scored 23 total runs over the last five games.
The Giants are led from the plate by Wilmer Flores (19 HR), LaMonte Wade Jr. (.256 batting average), and J.D. Davis (58 RBI). San Francisco has scored 19 runs over the last five games.
The Streaks
The Braves are looking for a three-game sweep of the Giants and have won four in a row. Meanwhile, San Francisco has lost two in a row and four of its last five.
The Odds
Braves -1.5
Braves -140 on the moneyline
O/U 10
None of the games in this series have been within the point spread. You would thing, naturally, that should lean to us taking the Braves at -1.5 but the gambler in me is looking at that -130 on the Giants at +1.5 and thinking that’s the way we should go. Atlanta is the obvious pick on the moneyline and the -140 odds there prove that. I think that’s probably the best bet of the night, despite the fact that it gives us the worst odds. The over/under is what intrigues me the most. That’s a lot of runs! Despite the situation on the mound, for both teams, I think I’m more comfortable taking the under here.
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