Bet the Runline: Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants

Washington Nationals (6-15) vs. San Francisco Giants (13-6)

When: 10:15 p.m., Friday, April 29

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco

Moneyline: WSH +190/SF -220

Runline: Nationals +1.5/Giants -1.5

Total: 7.5 (Get the best MLB Lines >>> It’s SMART to bet at reduced odds!)

Starting Pitchers: Aaron Sanchez (0-1, 8.31 ERA, 1.62 WHP vs. Alex Wood (2-0, 2.51 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)

Handling Expectations

So far, the Giants are managing expectations quite well and have made it clear that they aren’t going anywhere in their challenge to the Dodgers. San Francisco finally broke up Los Angeles’ stranglehold on the NL West last season, but there were some thoughts that the Giants’ magical season could have been a fluke, especially after San Francisco saw its season end in the NLDS at the hands of the Dodgers.
This year’s start has made it clear that success was no fluke, and the Giants really are sticking around. San Francisco is off to a 13-6 start to lead the Dodgers and San Diego Padres by a half-game after almost three weeks, and while there’s a lot of season to be played, it’s also critical to the Giants’ chances that they got off to this kind of start. A slow start could have been devastating for a team in the role of the hunted after spending a year as the plucky underdog, but the Giants haven’t come close to that. They’re still winning with pitching and defense, as their team ERA is just 2.32 to this point, and they’re very much going to be in the hunt for the NL West crown as well as the playoffs.

Ending Games Early

One of the biggest reasons that San Francisco has had early success is because the Giants have basically followed one of the simplest formulas in baseball: get a lead in the game’s first six innings, hand the game to the bullpen and essentially slam the door early. The Giants have by far the most dominant bullpen in the game to this point of the season, as San Francisco’s bullpen has an ERA of just 1.54. Considering that the staff as a whole has what’s an already sparkling ERA at 2.32, it’s hard to overstate just how dominant the Giants’ bullpen has been this season.

The Nationals’ bullpen isn’t terrible by any means, with a 3.61 ERA, but Washington’s got a problem of a different sort: the starting pitching has been nothing short of atrocious. Aaron Sanchez’s one start (a 5-2 loss to San Francisco) was one of the lesser offenders, as he gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, not good by any means, but not totally horrible. But as a whole, the Nationals have an ERA of 5.01, worse than everyone except Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. It’s even worse when you throw in runs caused by the defense making mistakes, as the Nats have allowed an MLB-worst 110 runs this season. This could be a case in which San Francisco jumps on Washington early.

One-Way Traffic

There’s a reason there’s almost no value with the Giants on the money line: the fact that San Francisco has already seen and crushed Washington on the road this season. It’s tough to get a decent price on the Giants when we’ve already seen this film before, and San Francisco slammed the Nationals by a 24-6 count over three games. Given that San Francisco really hasn’t had to hit all that much to do that, it seems like the outcome points in only one direction for this one.

Betting Trends

• The Nats are 22-56 in their past 78 games overall.
• The Nationals are 16-35 in their past 51 road games.
• The Giants are 21-5 in their past 26 home games after an off day.
• The Giants are 42-12 in their past 54 games as a favorite.
• The under is 6-0-1 in the Nationals’ past seven games against a left-handed starter.
• The under is 6-1 in the Nationals’ past seven games overall.
• The under is 5-2 in the Giants’ past seven home games.
• The under is 38-18-3 in the Giants’ past 59 against the NL East.
• SF has won six straight against the Nationals.
• The under is 20-8-1 in the past 29 meetings in San Francisco.

Weather Report

The wind will blow out to right-center field in this game, but it might not be enough to make a difference at 11 miles per hour on a 54-degree day by the bay. There’s no rain in the forecast, but it will be a cloudy day in San Francisco.

Dan’s Pick

Fading the Giants as a favorite has been an outstanding way to lose money as of late, and doing so after an off day has been ever more of a bad risk to take. Doing both against the Nationals seems crazy, even at this high price. There’s not a lot of value without taking the runline, but that’s just what I’ve got to do here, given what happened in Washington earlier this year. I’ll take San Francisco at -1.5. Bet your Nationals vs. Giants prediction FREE by taking advantage of a 100% REAL CASH bonus on your first deposit up to $300 when you use bonus/promo code PREDICT100 at MyBookie Sportsbook!