The San Francisco Giants will look to complete a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds at home on Thursday, May 20th. San Francisco has outscored Cincinnati 14-5 in this series and shut out the Reds 4-0 on Wednesday to improve to 27-16, the best record in the MLB. After three straight losses, Cincinnati dropped to 19-22 for fourth place in the National League Central.
The Giants will turn to righthander Johnny Cueto, who is 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five starts. He got off to a good start this season but struggled a bit in two starts after coming off the injured list. In those games, he gave up a combined 16 hits and seven runs in 7.1 innings of work in two San Francisco losses. Righty Tyler Mahle will throw for the Reds with a 2-1 record and 2.93 ERA in eight starts. It’s been a fantastic start for the 26-year-old pitcher, giving up more than two runs just once this season.
Giants vs. Reds, 12:35 p.m. ET
Moneyline pick: Reds -137
Cincinnati will close out a rough series with a victory on Thursday afternoon, and it’s going to come down to starting pitching. Mahle has been very good this season, while Cueto hasn’t been himself since missing a few starts with a Grade 1 lat strain. You’re paying a decent price to get the Reds at this number, but they are worth it due to this pitching matchup.
Player Prop: Tyler Mahle U6.5 strikeouts (+115)
As much as we’ve been pumping up Mahle in this article, he has not been striking out hitters all that much recently despite his success. He struck out more than six batters just once in his last four starts. The Giants strike out a decent amount, but we’re still siding with the under in this spot especially when we’re getting plus-value.
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