Baseball Betting Picks: Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants

Added on Aug 23, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The Braves salvaged a win in the final game of a three game series against Washington on Wednesday night but now must face another tough challenge as they head to California to take on the NL West leading San Francisco Giants. Atlanta is now six games back of NL East leading Washington, while the Giants have a 2.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants
August 23, 2012 7:15 PM Pacific

The Braves got the money against a tough lefthander in Ross Detwiler on Wednesday but year to date they’re been at their worst when facing southpaws. They’re going up against a good one here in Barry Zito despite the fact that his numbers aren’t overly impressive. Zito is a veteran who is capable of putting up a dominant performance. The Braves have made money in most situations this year but they’ve shown a decided weakness against lefthanders. Atlanta is just 21-25 -7.3 units against LHP and they average a full half run less per game against them than in all games. Atlanta will counter with Tommy Hanson who is also a solid starter and it should be noted that San Francisco has lost money against right handers this year (42-42 -5.6 units). Hanson recently came off the 15 day disabled list where he was recovering from a strained back muscle. He looked good in his first start back in action so there’s no reason to think that his back is any longer an issue.

Perhaps the most important component of this handicap is one that you won’t see in the standings or the stats sheet. The Braves played in Washington, DC last night and are playing on the other coast tonight. That means a long trip and even in a chartered plane that’s no picnic. Throw in possible disruption of sleep schedules, time zone changes and a letdown situation going from a series against their divisional rival to face another tough opponent and there sure seems to be a lot working against Atlanta in this game aside from their struggles with southpaws. The Giants also played on the road last night, but it’s hard to compare the quick trip up the coast from Los Angeles to the 3000 mile flight the Braves faced to get here.

Bet San Francisco Giants (Zito) +105 over Atlanta Braves (Hanson)