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Anything goes in this National League matchup as the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds battle it out for the second time in just as many days on Saturday. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Giants-Reds prediction and pick will be made.
After an uninspiring 5-1 loss at the hands of the Reds on Friday, the Giants are hoping to show a little more grit in the second contest of this three-game set. With their two-game winning streak no longer intact after the loss, San Francisco will call upon lefty Alex Wood who has racked up a 3-3 record with a 4.82 ERA to get themselves back in the win column.
Despite the rocky start, some may argue that the Reds are playing their best ball of the season, as the victory over the Giants yesterday was their third consecutive win. On the mound looking to make it four in a row will be RHP Vladimir Gutierrez, who has left a lot to be desired with his 0-6 record and an elevated 8.70 ERA.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Giants-Reds MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Giants-Reds Odds
San Francisco Giants: -1.5 (-111)
Cincinnati Reds : +1.5 (-108)
Over: 10 (-106)
Under: 10 (-114)
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Why The Giants Could Cover the Spread
While they have been able to showcase similar success to what they were able to accomplish in an NL West winning season a year ago, San Francisco has looked human of late, as they have gone down in defeat in eight of their last 12 matchups played.
Nevertheless, San Francisco still presents an array of problems for opposing teams when they match up against them. In its storied franchise, the Giants have always demonstrated that they can spin the baseball, but it has become clear in 2022 that they make teams pay by burning them with their sticks.
With the third-most runs in the league with 224 and the third-best on-base percentage at a .330 mark, San Francisco's lineup is as feared as they come. Perhaps the biggest reason for their occasional struggles points to the fact that they are among the league's worst pitching units statistically. On the other hand, the Giants are allowing other teams to hit .266 off of them, which has resulted in a team ERA of 4.43, as both numbers rank within the bottom five in all of baseball.
In order to cover the spread this afternoon, expect names like OF Joc Pederson to add to his team-leading 11 long balls or for 2B Wilmer Flores to continue his timely hitting approach on the season with his 25 runs batted in.
Why The Reds Could Cover the Spread
If you're a fan of the Reds, each season presents a feeling of disappointment shortly following the very first pitch thrown of the season. To begin 2022, many Reds fans entered the new season on cloud nine after their Bengals were able to make an appearance in the Super Bowl for the first time in 30-plus years. These feelings of hope and optimism were soon met with disheartenment, as the Reds stormed out of the gate in the worst way possible with a 3-22 record in the club's first 25 matchups.
While the bad news is that the Reds are currently 15 games under .500, the good news is that most Reds fans probably feel numb at this point, which has prevented them from feeling the gut-wrenching pain of being a constant loser. However, this is baseball, which means that any team has the capability to cover the spread and at least put some cash in the pockets of fans far and wide.
In order to cover the spread against a Giants team that is clearly superior on paper, Cincinnati must find a way to have a repeat of success that they endured in their 5-1 victory over San Francisco less than 24 hours ago. In that game, the Reds shut out the Giants until the 8th inning and also received some timely hitting at the plate that saw them jump out to an early lead in the beginning frames. While this type of performance might've been an anomaly, especially pitching-wise, the Reds will need to do their fair share of hitting to win once again. Cincinnati is a bottom-five pitching squad, so to rely on them is very unrealistic.
This is especially the case with Gutierrez on the mound, as the 26-year-old from Cuba is statistically one of the worst pitchers in the game and has allowed at least four runs in his last four starts.
Final Giants-Reds Prediction & Pick
After a strange debacle in Friday's game that saw an altercation arise between Tommy Pham and Joc Pederson over a fantasy football dispute that led to the benches clearing, anything is possible for game two on Saturday. Can lightning strike twice for the Reds? Most likely not. San Francisco is the better team here and they should bounce back in a big way.
Final Giants-Reds Pick: Giants -1.5 (-111)
