Thursday’s forecast in San Francisco calls for clear skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. First pitch from Oracle Park is set for 9:45 PM ET. NBCS will be televising this NL matchup.
The Brewers are favored on the money line (-130) and are currently first in the NL Central with a record of 83-62. The Giants are 4th in the NL West with a record of 72-74. Thursday’s over/under line is sitting at 7.5 runs, and the under is paying out at -105 compared to -116 for the over.
Brewers Look to Extend NL Central Lead on the Road Against Giants
The Milwaukee Brewers are currently 83-62 overall, putting them in 1st place in the NL Central. They have an 8.5-game lead over the Cubs in the division. The Brewers have gone 30-19 in divisional games this season. Today, they are on the road against the Giants and are 41-33 on the road this season. The over/under line for the game is set at 7.5 runs. The Brewers have a 75-61 over/under record for the season, and their games with over/under lines higher than 7.5 runs have averaged 8.7 runs per game.
Frankie Montas is starting for the Brewers today and is 6-10 with a 4.69 ERA this season. He has a WHIP of 1.37 and has given up 18 homers. The Brewers offense is 6th in scoring at 4.8 runs per game. Willy Adames leads the team with 30 homers and 102 RBI. William Contreras is hitting .304 over his last 7 games and is on a 4-game hitting streak. The Brewers are 49-36 as the favorite and 42-29 at home.
Giants Look to Break Even Against Brewers as Birdsong Takes the Mound
The Giants are 72-74 this season and are 4th in the NL West. They are 15 games behind the Dodgers for the division lead. San Francisco’s record against the run line is 73-73, and they are 33-41 at home. The Giants have gone 45-32 as the favorite and 27-42 as the underdog. Today, they are facing the Brewers with an over/under line of 7.5 runs. So far, the over/under line for the Giants’ games has been set at 8 runs on average, and they are 29-24 when the line is set at 7.5 runs. In terms of their overall series record, the Giants are 22-20-4.
Right-hander Hayden Birdsong is starting for the Giants today and is 3-5 with a 5.19 ERA. His WHIP is 1.50, and he has a strikeout per nine innings figure of 11.08. The Giants’ offense is averaging 4.3 runs per game, and they are 16th in the league with 157 homers. Matt Chapman leads the team with 24 homers and 73 RBI. The Giants are hitting .240 as a team, which is 14th in the league. Heliot Ramos is hitting .270 with 20 homers and 67 RBI. Mike Yastrzemski has hit 4 homers in his last 9 games, and Tyler Fitzgerald is hitting .343 over his last 9 games.
Underdog Giants Poised for Upset: Bet on Birdsong’s Brilliance
Given that the Giants are the underdogs in this one, we really like them to pick up a win at +109. With the money line payout being higher than the run line, we recommend taking the Giants straight up.
Looking at the starting pitchers, our projections have Hayden Birdsong finishing with seven strikeouts compared to Frankie Montas with six. However, our projections have Birdsong finishing with a better ERA than Montas.
