MLB Betting Free Picks: San Francisco @ Cincinnati

Added on Jun 07, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

Not much action at sportsbooks for Monday with only a short slate of MLB betting to work with. We’ll take a look at a National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. The Reds are currently tied with St. Louis for the NL Central lead, while San Francisco is in third place in the NL West 2.5 games back of first place San Diego.

San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds
June 7, 4:10 PM Pacific

The Giants have an excellent starting rotation, but the Reds have the best offense in the National League. Cincy leads the NL in team batting average (.277), team slugging percentage (.455) and runs scored (290). While the Reds’ rotation may not have the depth that the Giants boast, they have been getting solid work from several pitchers including today’s starter Johnny Cueto. Cincinnati has won 8 of his 11 starts and he has a decent 3.19 ERA at home. Barry Zito has pitched well this year, but his ERA is only 4.50 in his last three outings.

The Reds have been very strong at home this season with a 19-11 record good for 6.4 units of profit. The Giants, meanwhile, are just 11-14 -3.7 units on the road. The Reds have won 8 of the last 12 head to head meetings (+5.9 units) including a 4-2 mark this year. They’re hitting .280 and averaging 5.2 runs per game against lefthanders, and their offensive numbers at home are stellar–.292 batting average with 5.5 runs per game. The Reds are 10-7 this year against lefthanders, and with their potent offense combined with the solid pitching of Cueto we’ll back them here as home favorites.

Bet Cincinnati (Cueto) -130 over San Francisco (Zito)