San Francisco Giants vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – Very Tight Baseball Betting Affair

There really is no way to know how kind the schedule maker has been to you until the season starts to move into its final stages. What may appear easy on paper at the start, may end up being a total nightmare. To say that the schedule is a little rough on the San Francisco Giants right now is putting thing mildly. They will head to Pittsburgh for a 4-game baseball betting series starting on Thursday night.

San Francisco vs. Pittsburgh MLB Game Info

Date/Time: Thursday, August 20th, 7:05 PM Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA TV: ROOT SPORTS, MLBN Radio: KDKA-FM 93.7 Opening line: Pittsburgh -125

The @Pirates have homered in 12 straight games, the longest streak for the franchise since 1994 (13 games). pic.twitter.com/4G2zWIKWPE

— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) August 19, 2015

The Giants (65-54) are in the midst of a stretch of games that no team deserves to have to go through. Between August 6 and September 2, the Giants schedule sees them play 26 consecutive games against teams who are either winning their division on in the playoff picture. So far, they are playing .500 ball, going 6-6 through the first 12 games of that stretch. They will finish up a series against the Cardinals on Wednesday, and they have the chance to come away with the series win if they can get the victory in that one. After this series against the Pirates, they will have to face the Cubs, Cardinals, and Dodgers, with the last of that group perhaps being the most important. Every game is big right now, though, as the Giants try to close the 2-game deficit in the West. Jake Peavy (3-5, 4.18 ERA) was not at his best in his last start, but still got the win thanks to great run support. As much as the Pirates (70-47) would love to win the division, they are probably now resigned to the fact that the Wild Card is how they are going to get into the playoffs. The Cardinals are beginning to look impossible to catch, but Pittsburgh can take solace in the fact that they have as good as clinched one of the Wild Card Spots. There is some cause for concern in the Steel City right now, though, as the Pirates are relying a little too heavily on their offense to get them wins. They blew a 4-run lead against the D-Backs on Tuesday night before finally getting the win in 15-innings. That was the third time in 5 games that they have needed extra innings, although they did manage to get the W in them all. Charlie Morton (7-4, 4.36 ERA) will get the start, and will look to take his unbeaten streak to 5.

MLB Injuries

This has all the makings of a very, very tight affair, and I would not be surprised to see extra innings again. I like the Giants to sneak one on the road here.