Baseball Picks: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres

Written May 19, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

giants-padres-predictions-051909 After losing four straight games at home, one to the Nationals and three to the Mets, The Giants salvaged their last game of their home stand with a 2-0 victory over New York behind a great pitching match up from Matt Cain. San Francisco is 19-18 on the season. They are led by their power hitting catcher Bengie Molina who has eight homers and 30 RBIs while hitting .304 from the plate. He is having a career year for himself. The problem remains he is the only one doing anything productive at the plate. The next most productive hitter is Pablo Sandoval who has a .314 batting average with three homers and 17 RBIs. Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn are decent players but nothing to write home about. Pitching wise, The Giants have been decent. They have plenty of good young arms to throw out there. In tonight’s game, the former Cy Young award winner but most importantly recent all time bust, Barry Zito will take the mound. He has a 1-3 record with a 3.89 ERA. A drastic improvement from last seasons poor performance. In His only start against San Diego this season he went seven innings allowing six hits and no runs. Do not expect Zito to pitch that well tonight, but I do believe he will be solid. Today’s MLB odds show the Padres -144 against the Giants with the total set at 7.5 runs.

The Padres are coming off a three game sweep of the Reds. That is something they needed so desperately as they have fallen big time after their hot start to the season. Adrian Gonzalez continues to be one of baseballs best players that nobody talks about. He has collected 15 home runs and 29 RBIs while hitting .294 from the plate so far. That’s where the highlights end. This is a pitiful hitting squad.. Scott Hairston and Jody Gerut are the team second leading home run hitters with three each. Yes, that is a big problem. Pitching wise, they have taken a step back but still are pretty solid. Chris Young gets the nod tonight as this has been a start to a season he would love to change quickly. His numbers show a 2-2 record with a 5.56 ERA. The numbers show the Padres should struggle in this game. Don’t be so fast though to jump to that conclusion. Four runs will win this game. Expect Gonzo to come up with the big hit against low level competition like he usually does, and that will give San Diego the chance to get this win.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Giants are 2-6 in their last eight games as an underdog. The Padres are 5-16 in their last 21 Tuesday games. San Diego is 7-19 in their last 26 games overall. In the head to head match up, The Giants are 11-5 in the last 16 games between the two. I am going against both trends tonight. The Pads coming off a series sweep, play a division opponent that they should beat. They have the better pitcher on the mound and have built some slight confidence.. Look for a 4-3 Padres Victory

Jordan’s picks: Padres -144 & UNDER 7.5

Last night was border line comical. As we enter the fourth inning looking solid in our BEST BET UNDER between the Dbacks and Marlins, the rain comes down and forces them to postpone the game. The Dodgers win by only one run as Tim Redding seemed to have owned them after the first inning. But, it seems to be a sudden rain storm is the only way I can be contained right now. So without further delay, lets get cracking.

Documented MLB Record:

53-29 OVERALL

20-11 BEST BETS

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