Oh what a difference two months can make to the sports betting world. Two months ago sports fans in San Francisco were looking forward to NFL betting as the Giants looked to be falling away in the playoff race. The San Diego Padres looked to be going to the playoffs, and the Giants were not even going to qualify for the wild card.
Two months ago the Philadelphia Phillies were still confusing MLB betting experts as they trailed the Atlanta Braves for the NL East pennant, and showed very little ability to capitalize on having one of the best starting rotations in baseball. While Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels were toiling away on the Philadelphia mound, Ryan Howard and the Phillies offense could not get the ball out of the park.
Fast forward two months and here we sit ready to kick off the NL Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. Not only are we here, but that pitching staff in Philadelphia started to get some help in playoffs, but they didn’t need it. Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels held the Cincinnati Reds to four runs in their NLDS series, with two of the three games being shut outs. Halladay even pitched a no-hitter to open the series.
Now we have arguably the two best pitchers in the NL in Tim Lincecum of the Giants and Roy Halladay of the Phillies meeting up in game one of the NL Championship Series. With all of the hoopla surrounding Roy Halladay’s series opening no-hitter, everyone seems to forget the masterpiece that Lincecum threw in the opening game of the Giants NLDS series against the Atlanta Braves.
The sportsbook reviews on the Lincecum opener were impressive as well. Lincecum threw a complete-game two-hitter at the Braves, who were one of the best hitting teams in the NL for 2010. The Giants pitcher struck out 14 Braves, walked only one and came out of that game with the same 2010 playoff ERA as Halladay; 0.00. Lincecum had all of his stuff working in game one against the Braves, and if he has the same kind of control against Philadelphia then this could be a very interesting game.
The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the worst team batting averages of the remaining playoff teams at .212. In their NLDS series, the Phillies once again showed an alarming lack of power as they only hit one homerun. Philadelphia was the recipient of several errors by the Cincinnati Reds, including two errors in game three that lead directly to two runs by the Phillies. The San Francisco Giants play a better brand of defensive baseball than the Reds, so the Phillies will not have the same opportunity to exploit fielding errors in this series.
Since neither the Philadelphia nor San Francisco bullpens were used very much in their NLDS series, it is hard to say how the relievers will respond to playoff pressure. But with two aces on the mound for game one, and two solid defensive teams, this series could come down to the bullpens when it is all said and done.
Pick: San Francisco Giants 2-0
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.