2012-05-18 FREE PICK:
Oakland @ San Francisco (2 Units)

Pitching for the Giants is Barry Zito. Zito has bounced back and had a very solid start to the 2012 season. In 7 starts, 5 of which have been on the road, he has yet to give up more than 3 earned runs in a start despite having problems with his control. Normally, he would be a good fade vs. an AL lineup, but tonight he is in a good spot to have a quality start. The A’s have really struggled substantially vs lefties this year with a .216 average in games started by LHP. As I have mentioned before, they are not a patient team at all and swing at many pitches out of the strike zone. Barry Zito should not have too much trouble shutting this lineup down. Pitching for Oakland is the rookie Jarrod Parker. He has been outstanding this year, giving up just 6 runs in 4 starts. The teams that he has shut down were: Boston, Detroit, Toronto & Chicago White Sox… none of which are horrible offensive teams like the Giants are. The pressure hasn’t gotten to him at all, as he has a very surprising knack of getting out of tough situations: With men on base, he has forced the opponent to a .143 average in 42 at bats, including a 2-20 average with runners in scoring position. The Giants as always have really struggled to score at home… they are averaging just 3.1 runs per game in 19 games. A huge problem again has been there lack of clutch hits, and this is shown by the fact that they have a .209 average with running in scoring position, with only 5 home runs in 354 at bats in this situation. Given both pitchers tendencies to get out of big jams, and the struggles each opposing offense has had, there is a very good chance this one ends up with 6 runs or less.
TAKE: Under 6.5 (+104)