The Cincinnati Reds take on the San Francisco Giants. Our MLB odds series has our Reds Giants prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Reds Giants.
The San Francisco Giants had held the No. 2 wild card position in the National League for a good portion of time after the All-Star break, but a weak and limited offense with little pop beyond Wilmer Flores (who has been exceptionally great over the past few months) has dragged down the Giants. San Francisco was once 54-41 through 95 games. In its last 36 games, San Francisco is 14-22. That rough five-week stretch has pushed the Giants temporarily out of wild card position.
The good news? With the exception of the Philadelphia Phillies, who are beginning to take off and solidify the first National League wild card spot and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, no one else in the N.L. wild card chase is developing any momentum. The Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, and Miami Marlins have all failed to maintain upward momentum. The Giants have been a bad team over the past five weeks, as noted above. Yet, for all their recent failures, they are just half a game out of the third wild card spot, and one game out of the second wild card position. Everything is still right there for them. They don't have to make up a large deficit. They just have to finish second out of the five teams which are bunched together in the race for the last two N.L. wild card berths. Chicago, Arizona, Cincinnati, and Miami are battling San Francisco. These five teams are 2.5 games apart.
Here is your N.L. wild card reset: Chicago is currently in the No. 2 wild card slot, leading Arizona (which is in the No. 3 spot) by half a game. Arizona owns that last playoff position entering play on Tuesday, leading San Francisco by half a game, Cincinnati by 1.5 games, and Miami by 2.5 games. The Giants beat the Reds on Monday to move one game ahead of the Reds. Cincinnati badly needs to survive this series on the road so that it doesn't fall too far behind San Francisco and the other teams ahead of the Reds in the standings. Cincinnati lost three of four to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix over the weekend, so the Reds really need to stop the bleeding here.
Here are the Reds-Giants MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Reds-Giants Odds
Cincinnati Reds: +1.5 (-160)
San Francisco Giants: -1.5 (+132)
Over: 7.5 (-120)
Under: 7.5 (-102)
How To Watch Reds vs. Giants
TV: Bally Sports Ohio (Reds) / NBC Sports Bay Area (Giants) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. PT
*Watch Reds-Giants LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Reds Could Cover The Spread
The Giants have been a very bad baseball team in their last 36 games. A 14-22 record is ugly, and it starts with the Giants — outside of Wilmer Flores — not hitting very consistently. Flores has performed at an elite level since the start of June, but much like the Angels and Shohei Ohtani, there isn't a lot of support or protection elsewhere in the batting order. Smart teams will pitch around Ohtani and dare other hitters to beat them. Similarly, opponents of San Francisco can pitch around Flores is bases are open and force other Giant hitters to come up big. They have not been doing so of late. Cincinnati can contain the Giants and win.
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
The Giants have struggled of late, but they beat the Reds on Monday night. Cincinnati has not looked good in recent games, playing very sloppy baseball against the Diamondbacks and getting very little out of its bullpen. Cincinnati gave up 14 runs in the seventh inning or later in that four-game series in Phoenix against the D-Backs. If this game is tied entering the seventh or eighth inning, it's definitely advantage Giants. San Francisco's bullpen has been superior to Cincinnati's.
Final Reds-Giants Prediction & Pick
The Giants have the better bullpen and better overall pitching. Take the Giants.
Final Reds-Giants Prediction & Pick: Giants -1.5
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