The San Francisco Giants are back in the National League Division Series after a tour-de-force performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the lineup of teams in the division series round. Can the Giants build on this momentum and upset the Washington Nationals in Game 1? Or will Washington cut the Giants’ dreams down to size?
Don’t forget to check out our preview of the other NLDS, the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, shortly after getting a full overview of Game 1 in Washington.
[sc:MLBArticles ]San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals Betting Preview
Series Schedule & Results
Game 1 – Friday, October 3, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals – view all MLB lines
Game 2 – Saturday, October 4 San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals
Game 3 – Monday, October 6, Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants
Game 4* – Tuesday, October 7, Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants
Game 5* – Thursday, October 9, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals
*If necessary
Betting on the San Francisco Giants
[sc:MLB240banner ]Well, that was easy. The Giants ran roughshod over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, scoring a commanding 8-0 victory to book their tickets to the NLDS. San Francisco, a team that seems to turn its switch on every time it plays in October, now heads to the nation’s capital and will send Jake Peavy to the mound in Game 1 of the series.
Peavy has a tough act to follow, though, as Giants ace Madison Bumgarner tossed a four-hit, complete game gem against Pittsburgh last Wednesday. But based from what the 33-year-old veteran have shown in September, the Giants should be confident on Peavy when he takes on Washington’s big bats. Peavy is coming off the best month of his season, wherein he collected a 3-0 record with a 1.44 ERA.
Given Washington’s tendency to run up the pitch count — as evidenced by its 517 walks, third most in the NL – it’s unlikely that Peavy will be able to go deep like Bumgarner. That said, the Giants will have to call on its bullpen that has done a good job in the regular season, finishing with a fifth-ranked 3.01 ERA.
Back end pitching has been among the strengths of San Francisco, so expect to see Santiago Casilla (1.70 ERA in September) and/or converted reliever Tim Lincecum (12-9, 4.74 ERA) to toe the slab in this game.
Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford, meanwhile, continued to hit well into the postseason. Posey, who is hitting .380 (30-for-79) over the last 30 days, went 2-for-5 against the Pirates. Crawford, whose grand slam against Pittsburgh opened up the floodgates, is batting .343 (24-for-70) over the same stretch.
Betting on the Washington Nationals
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci called the Nationals the best team in the postseason. And how can they not be? This is a team with arguably the most complete set of weapons among all clubs heading into October. If you want to look at what makes the Nationals a scary team, then the pitching rotation is not a bad place to start.
For starters, the Nationals’ 3.03 ERA was the best in the majors at the end of the regular season. They’re also second overall in WHIP (1.14) and 11th in opposing teams’ batting average (.244). Matt Williams hasn’t penciled in his starter yet for Game 1, but it’s certainly going to be a tossup between Stephen Strasburg (14-11, 3.14 ERA) and Jordan Zimmermann (14-5, 2.66 ERA).
Strasburg and Zimmerman pitched out of their minds in September with the former going 3-1 with a 1.13 ERA and the latter earning a 4-0 record to go along with a 1.32 ERA during that stretch. On top of that, Strasburg, Zimmermann, and the rest of Washington’s rotation had an amazing 13-0 record with a 0.88 ERA since September 13.
Strasburg was 1-0 with a high 5.40 ERA in two starts against the Giants in the regular season. Zimmermann, on the other hand, won his only meeting with San Francisco, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight batters in eight innings of work in the Nationals’ 6-2 win last August 23rd.
At the plate, the Nationals’ offense didn’t look too shabby either prior to the postseason. Washington finished the regular season third in the league in runs (686), fifth in batting average (.253), fourth in OBP (.321), fifth in SLG (.393), and fourth in OPS (.714). In seven meetings against the Giants this season, Washington went 5-2 with a 5.8 runs average per game. In their last meeting, the Nats dominated San Francisco at home, 14-6.
Writer’s Prediction
The Giants keep on rolling, as they take Game 1 of the series. Create a betting account now, while odds are still available.
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