Lincecum will do his job and shut down the Pirates. They are not much of an offensive threat. They are only hitting .222 v righties in their last 10 games and Lincecum isn't the pitcher to start the 2nd half against. Now I can't say the Giants have a weak lineup anymore because they have been hitting the ball very well lately. But they only hit .225 against lefties on the road, and Maholm has a below 3 ERA at PNC Park. I believe the Pirates will be held in check and I believe Maholm can do his job as well. Maholm gave up 6 runs to the lowly Mets in his last home start so I expect him to give it all he has in this home bounce back start. Expect a 3-1, 4-1 type of game.

 

Hamels, for the most park, has been really good at bounce back after really poor outings. When he gave up 6 against Washington at the end of May, he shut out the Dodgers in 9 innings his next start. When he gave up 4 against the Mets, he shut down the Jays by allowing 2 runs. When he gave up 7 runs to Atlanta, he only surrendered 1 to the Reds in his next start. So now he's coming off a game where he gave up 5 runs to the Pirates and Hamels usually handles the Marlins nicely and should get his work done tonight. I wouldn't say he'll shut them out, but he'll certainly keep them below 3 runs. Nolasco has been outstanding since returning from the DL, but in his last start, he had a setback. He gave up 7 runs against the Cards and he will bounce back from that one. You can't keep a good pitcher down for long. This will be a very nice pitchers duel and if you enjoy those type of games, tune in. Somebody may be getting shutout tonight due to somebody's nast stuff.

 

I don't know what the line is, but if it's too high, I'll take the runline. If it's reasonable, I'll take the moneyline. Danks was putrid in his last start where he walked the first 4 and somehow only gave up 4 runs in the game. But he's good enough that you can't kick him when he's down. There is a pattern with my plays, and he will, like the others, bounce back tonight. The Sox are 1 game away from going on a huge run, and that may be starting tonight. But just aside from having the better pitcher in the matchup with the better team, the Orioles are AWFUL on the road. They have a record of 14-27 away from home and thats just sickening. And for what it's worth, when Danks wins' his team is 7-2 winning by 2 or more. And Berken hasn't has a 2 run or less loss all season. He is 0-7 in that catagory. Just some food for thought. I'll update the line later.