The Giants live to fight another day as the NLCS moves back to The City, where the Cardinals hope to crank their offense back up and clinch the league pennant. Sunday's Game 6 battle reintroduces Game 2's pitching matchup. Read our MLB picks preview.
Barry Zito will no longer be remembered by San Francisco Giants fans as the $126 million bust. The veteran lefthander's first postseason victory since his final days with the Oakland Athletics in 2006 kept Giants' hopes alive, and their NLCS with the St. Louis Cardinals now shifts back to the Bay Area.
Friday night's 5-0 victory at Busch Stadium was San Francisco 's fourth straight in elimination games, and the early MLB odds for Sunday's Game 6 suggest the Giants will make it five. San Fran backers will be paying -115 to -120 in hopes of the series going to a deciding seventh matchup. Bettors playing the total are looking at 6.5 with most shops charted by SBR odds charging -120 for the OVER.
Those brave folks interested in playing the Run Line are getting charged a hefty -220 for the extra run-&-a-half on the Cardinals side while the payback for laying 1.5 run on the Giants is +180 and higher.
The all-important pitching matchup on Sunday is the same one we saw in Game 2 when San Francisco 's Ryan Vogelsong was the easy winner over St. Louis ' Chris Carpenter. There are several similarities between that game and upcoming Game 6, but the question is, will history repeat itself?
Giants Turn To Vogelsong To Save The Day Again
You certainly wouldn't know this was Vogelsong's first taste of postseason pressure, not judging by his two performances so far. Two of
The Giants were on the verge of being swept from the NLDS by the Reds when Vogelsong made his playoff debut at Cincinnati in Game 3 of that series. He allowed a first-inning run, but then held the Reds in check the next four innings as San Francisco eventually posted a 2-1 dubya in 10. The righthander was even better last Monday at home against the Cardinals, tossing seven, 1-run frames to keep the Giants from falling in another 2-0 playoff hole.
Home is definitely where Vogelsong has done his best work this season. The Giants are 11-5 in his AT&T Park
Carpenter has been hit-or-miss in his two postseason outings, solid in Game 3 of the NLDS vs.Washington before a poor effort against the Giants a week ago. Some of the inconsistency can be blamed on the fact he had just three tune-up starts at the end of the regular season following shoulder surgery early this year. And some of his woes vs. San Francisco can be attributed to poor fielding on the part of the Cardinals, including Carpenter's own error.
National League Road
Life on the road has been great for NL squads and their backers so far this October. 11 of the 16 postseason tilts in the Senior Circuit have gone into the win column for the visitors, each time as the underdog. Two of the other five games closed as virtual pick 'em games on the baseball betting card, leaving any lucky bettor who has been following the road team the entire way up about 8.5 units.
Another profitable trend has been the OVER which is 7-3 in San Francisco 's 10 playoff affairs, 7-4 for St. Louis . Friday's match never reach the number to deny me some coin, but each of the three previous times a Cardinals postseason game has stayed below the total, they have responded with an OVER in the following game.
And that is exactly how I'll play Sunday's contest with a wager on the road team and the two offenses.
My Pick: Cardinals +105---, Over 6.5 (-120) +++
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