Sports Betting Overview This game is extremely important for both teams for very different reasons. The San Francisco Giants just added Carlos Beltran to their batting order and helped to boost their offense considerably. Most of the San Francisco pitching staff, especially Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson, have snapped out of the funks they were in prior to the All-Star break to become dominating pitchers. What the Giants need in this game is to get starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner back on the winning track as the team heads into the playoffs. Bumgarner was a solid fixture on last year’s rotation, and the Giants need to get the same production from him in this year’s playoffs if it is going to successfully defend its World Series title. The Cincinnati Reds are slip sliding away from the playoff hunt in the NL Central and NL wild card. MLB baseball betting fans remember the surprises that the Reds had for opponents last season that pushed the Reds into the playoffs. The pitching and clutch hitting that the Reds relied on last season is pretty much gone. The Reds currently trail in the NL Central by six and a half games and they are 10.5 back in the NL wild card race. At 50-55, the Reds need to start winning big games now if they are going to push themselves back into the pennant race for the NL Central. San Francisco Giants Madison Bumgarner is 6-9 on the season with a 3.56 ERA. But in his last six games, he is 3-0. That is what the Giants need from Bumgarner as the team heads into the playoffs. Bumgarner’s last start against the Reds came on June 9th where he pitched seven impressive innings allowing only one run on three hits. But he lost that game due to the offensive problems that the Giants were having at that time. With the Giants offense back on track and bolstered by the arrival of Carlos Beltran, Bumgarner is in a good position to make up for that June loss and get one step closer to getting his season record up to .500. Cincinnati Reds Everything seems to be going wrong for the Reds lately. They cannot hit the ball and when they do get on base they make bad base-running decisions. Their bullpen has been unpredictable, especially their middle relief. But the starting pitching for the Reds is still making for good MLB highlights as the starting pitchers continue to cope with the lack of offense. Mike Leake starts in this game, and his 4-4 record in his last 10 starts is deceiving. In his last two starts, Leake pitched for six innings against the Pirates and six innings against the Mets. He only allowed three earned runs in total for both of those games, but yet he went 0-2. The Reds are going to need to get some run support for Leake, and the rest of the pitching staff, if they want to make a run at the pennant. The Bottom Line The Giants will have problems getting runs off of Mike Leake in this game, but the Reds will have even more issues scoring against Madison Bumgarner. When you go to your betonline baseball betting site, you should probably take the Giants for this game. Pick: San Francisco Giants
