The NL Wild Card race gained a smidge more clarity last night as the San Francisco Giants (73-71) beat the Arizona Diamondbacks (72-73) to gain a game in the postseason race. With San Francisco now three games back of the final spot and Arizona sitting 4.5 games shy, Tuesday provides another opportunity for that gap to widen as these division rivals play once more.
Check out this Giants vs. Diamondbacks prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s action.
Giants vs. Diamondbacks prediction, preview
The Giants’ offense maintained their hot streak last night with a dominant 11-5 win over the D-backs. In that outing, San Francisco tallied 12 total hits as four different players homered to keep the team’s momentum rolling into Tuesday. As things stand, they’ve won 12 of their last 15 games and are lighting up the scoring column on a near-nightly basis. In the last two weeks, the Giants are averaging over 7.6 runs per game with an MLB-best .317 average and .931 OPS. Those are just flat-out stupid marks as San Francisco’s bats keep mashing, and their 29 homers in their last 13 contests are also the most in baseball. They’re incredibly difficult to stop right now and are beginning to put some real pressure on the Mets for the final NL Wild Card berth.
The opportunity to down a division opponent is something the Giants won’t pass up — they got a little bit closer with yesterday’s series opener. Arizona remains 6-4 across their last 10 outings have now lost back-to-back contests, so the momentum may be shifting after an excellent run with series wins over the Reds, Brewers, Dodgers, Rangers and Red Sox. Five runs on eight hits last night certainly wasn’t bad, but it simply wasn’t enough to escape with a win against an offense rolling in this fashion. Still, the the Diamondbacks are seventh in scoring over the last two weeks with over five runs per game, and while a .244 average and .706 OPS aren’t stunning, they’re enough to get the job done most nights.
On the mound tonight, Robbie Ray (3.31 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 171 SO in 168.2 IP) suits up for the Giants against Zac Gallen (4.77 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 154 SO in 168.0 IP) for the Diamondbacks.
Giants vs. Diamondbacks pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Giants enter as -145 home favorites on the Moneyline while the Diamondbacks come in as +118 road underdogs. The run total sits at 7.5 for the matchup with the over favored at -112 odds.
The stakes continue to increase for both of these teams, so expect each side to come out with an intensity tonight as the D-backs try and stay alive against a superior Giants squad looking to inch closer to a postseason berth. Gallen actually has pitched quite well in recent starts and hasn’t allowed more than five hits or three earned runs in a start since August 2, and he’s given up just one earned run across his last three appearances. On the flip side, Ray gave up 10 earned runs in nine innings across his last two starts, so he may come out a bit shaky here.
However, the Giants should absolutely remain the favorites even with Ray’s questionable form. They’re simply performing as the MLB’s top offense lately, and they’ve seemed largely resurgent ever since August. They’re also 18-5 against the spread since August 15 and 6-1 against the spread this month. The D-backs’ bullpen also ranks 20th in ERA and 23rd in HR/9 over the last two weeks, so they may end up vulnerable even if Gallen pitches well. With that in mind, I’m taking the San Francisco run line without a second thought just like yesterday.
Best bet: SF Giants -1.5 (+151)
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