Giants Diamondbacks Betting – Giants Extend Lead Over D’Backs In NL West

Most sports betting players picked San Francisco to win the National League West after their run to the World Series last year, and the Giants are on top of the division again, with Arizona hot on their heels. The two meet in the desert this week for a three-game set, and the Giants will prove that they’re still the class of the division, even without ace Tim Lincecum on the mound.

• What: MLB Betting
• When: Tuesday, June 14 – Thursday, June 16
• Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
• Pick: San Francisco Giants

Tuesday – Matt Cain (5-4, 3.36) vs. Josh Collmenter (4-1, 1.12)

The MLB betting odds for this game will be closer than you think as Collmenter has been successful so far in his transition to the rotation in his rookie year, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his last 13 innings of work. He tossed two innings in his first meeting of the season against the Giants, earning the win at home, where he is 2-0 in six games (three starts), and he hasn’t given up a run in 20.1 innings at Chase Field. However, he’s going up against Cain, who is coming off a complete-game win against Washington in which he whiffed 11 batters, he is 8-4 in 19 starts against Arizona with a 3.14 ERA, and he’s 5-3 in 11 starts at Chase Field with a 4.02 ERA. Cain already has two wins over the Diamondbacks in 2011.

Collmenter has been brilliant so far this season, but you have to take Cain and his experience over Collmenter, who is 25 years old, but he is still a rookie going through major-league hitting for the first time.

Betting Edge: San Francisco Giants

Wednesday – Madison Bumgarner (2-8, 3.23) vs. Joe Saunders (3-6, 4.56)

The Diamondbacks will be slight favorites at home in this contest, as Saunders has won three of his last four starts, although he was lit up for three homers and five runs in his previous outing in Florida. He will want to avenge a loss in his lone meeting with San Francisco, which came this year when he was tagged for five runs in his third start of the season, but he has been very inconsistent so far in 2011. Bumgarner has been unfortunate to lose his last two games as the Giants have scored just one run, while he has allowed only two, but he hasn’t lost against Arizona in five games (four starts), going 2-0 with a 2.28 ERA, and he is 1-0 in four games at Chase Field with a 2.38 ERA.

This all depends on which Saunders shows up for this game, because Bumgarner has actually pitched pretty well this season; it’s just that he is second from the bottom of the league in terms of run support, and the Giants have been blanked in three of his last 10 starts.

Betting Edge: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wednesday – Madison Bumgarner (2-8, 3.23) vs. Joe Saunders (3-6, 4.56)

Vogelsong has stepped up in the face of injuries in the San Francisco rotation, and he has now allowed two runs or less in seven consecutive starts. He has appeared against the Diamondbacks seven times, starting once, and he has a 1-1 record with an ERA of 2.75. Vogelsong is also 1-0 in three games (one start) at Chase Field with a microscopic ERA of 0.90. Kennedy gave up five runs in his last start in Florida, and he was taken deep three times, but he does have good numbers against the Giants, going 1-2 in six starts with a 2.16 ERA.

However, Kennedy’s numbers at home (3-2 in eight starts, 3.88 ERA) aren’t as good as they are on the road, and you should be skeptical of his start to the season as he has never shown this type of potential before. Vogelsong also gets the edge because of his consistency this season, so the Giants are the smart bet in your online betting book on Thursday.