MLB Baseball Betting: San Francisco Giants at Oakland A’s

Added on Jun 23, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

More Interleague action on Saturday as the Giants and A’s play in the ‘Battle of the Bay’. The Giants came from behind to take the first game of the series on Friday night. The Giants have closed the gap between them and the Dodgers in the NL West to 2 games while the A’s are still spinning their wheels trying to stay out of the AL West basement.

San Francisco Giants at Oakland A’s
June 23, 2012 4:15 PM Pacific

The Giants are once against relevant in the NL West divisional race but that’s as much due to the LA Dodgers struggles as it is their own success. San Francisco has won only 6 of their last 12 games and their offense continues to sputter. They did manage to avoid another loss on Friday despite the continued struggles of 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. Today’s starter, Madison Bumgarner, has been much more solid this year with a 2.92 ERA and the Giants winning 9 of his 14 starts. He’s not been quite as effective on the road, posting a 3.46 ERA with San Francisco splitting his 8 starts. He’s looked good of late with a 2.49 ERA in his last three games.

Oakland, meanwhile, has been in much better form at least in the past couple of weeks. The A’s have won 8 of their last 10 games but that still leaves them just three games under .500 and 10 games back of the first place Texas Rangers in the AL West. Today’s starter, Tyson Ross, hasn’t been particularly impressive with a 6.11 ERA (4.76 home ERA) but Oakland has split his 10 starts overall and his 4 starts at home.

Bumgarner is the better pitcher to be sure, but it’s tough to lay the price with San Francisco given their recent form and particularly due to their offensive struggles. Ross faced another weak hitting team (San Diego) in his last outing and allowed only 2 earned runs. Despite their substandard performance overall this year they’ve turned a profit both overall and at home–this usually suggests a team that is undervalued by linesmakers and the wagering public. We’d rather back the A’s at home and hope that the Giants’ offensive struggles continue which will allow their opponents to be competitive here.

Bet Oakland A’s (Ross) +120 over San Francisco Giants (Bumgarner)