MLB Betting Picks: San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs

Daytime baseball action on Friday as the San Francisco Giants continue their series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Giants are, of course, the defending World Series Champion and are expected to be in contention once again this year. The Cubs on the other hand are expected to contend for a more dubious honor–last place in their division. The best assessment of the Cubs this year is that they are a team that will be ‘moving backwards in order to move forward’.

San Francisco took the first game of this series on Thursday night and have gotten off to a strong start in 2013. They’re currently 7-3 and atop the NL West with a 1/2 game lead over their in state rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants split their first six games of the year against tough opposition (the Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals) but have now won four straight games since stepping down in class against the Cubs and the Colorado Rockies. Matt Cain will get the assignment for the Giants and he’s coming off an uncharacteristically bad start in his season opening effort against the Cardinals. Cain was in complete control before simply ‘imploding’ in the fourth inning of Sunday games where he allowed 9 runs and got an early trip to the showers. It’s doubtful that Cain–one of the more consistent pitchers in the big leagues–will repeat this awful effort. The drop in class from the hard hitting Cardinals to the bumbling Cubs could make this a spot where Cain reasserts his dominance.

Hope springs eternal every year relative to the Chicago Cubs but the signs are already suggesting that this will be another long season. The Cubbies are 3-6 on the season which may not sound disastrous but considering that they’re just now stepping up in class after starting the season against the Pirates and Braves doesn’t bode well. Two of the three wins came in their opening series against the Pirates meaning they’re now on a 1-6 run and will face the hard hitting Texas Rangers in their next series.

Year in and year out there are few more dependable money making situations in baseball betting than going against the Cubs at home. Since 1997, Chicago has lost -148.7 units at Wrigley Field and they should drop another unit here.

BET SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (CAIN) -145 OVER CHICAGO CUBS (VILLANUEVA)