San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves Odds & Pick: August 8th 2010

San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
Pick: San Francisco Giants +122 odds
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We have seen some great pitching matchups in this series so far and today’s matchup should not disappoint even though it is not of the same caliber of what has taken place so far. Tim Hudson tossed another gem for the Braves on Saturday to grab the second win of the first three games of this series prior to today’s finale. The win pushed Atlanta to a two-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East.

The loss did not drop the Giants back any further as they are still a game behind San Diego in the National League West. San Francisco has leveled off a little bit after a huge run to get right back into this race but it remains one of only three teams in the entire National League that has a record above .500 on the road so that takes away from some of the Atlanta home success.

Jonathan Sanchez gets the call for the Giants and he is coming off another successful start as he tossed a quality outing at Colorado to lower his ERA to 3.38 on the year and 3.6 on the road. Sanchez said he was more relaxed after not getting traded and it showed and he will be better off going forward. He won for the first time since July 5 and equaled his 2009 victory total.

The Braves counter with Derek Lowe who is also coming off a quality outing but he remains a wild card in my opinion. Not long ago, he was the ace of whatever rotation he was in as he has a career 3.87 ERA but his time with the Braves has been a disappointment. He has a 4.44 ERA this season and a 4.58 ERA in his two seasons in Atlanta. Only 10 of his 23 starts this season have been quality outings.

The Giants are 15-2 in their last 17 games against starters that have a WHIP greater than 1.30 while the Braves are 1-7 in their last eight games after allowing two runs or less in their previous game. 3* San Francisco Giants