Royals plus $1.65 at Giants
The Golden State Warriors are a team for the ages. Their baseball counterpart in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants, are a team for the Dark Ages.
The Giants are 26-40. Only the Phillies have a worst record. San Francisco didn’t lose 40 games until July 24 last year. Hope Madison Bumgarner enjoyed that dirt bike ride he took back in April. The Giants haven’t recovered from his absence.
Minus Bumgarner, the Giants’ top pitcher is Johnny Cueto. That sounds OK, but truth be told the 31-year-old Cueto has been declining for more than a year now. He has a 4.33 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.
Cueto still has the big name, though, which has made the Giants very overpriced for this matchup.
Kansas City is five games below .500, but showing life. The Royals are only five games out of first in the AL Central Division. The Royals have scored 28 runs in winning three in a row, including defeating the Giants, 8-1, last night.
The Royals are familar with Cueto, who helped Kansas City win the World Series in 2015. Cueto has a 3.79 ERA in three career starts versus his former team.
Journeyman Jason Hammel gets the start for the Royals. I can’t say I like Hammel, but he’s not one of those pitchers who should be in a junkyard rather than a big league rotation. Hammel is good for innings and brings a veteran savvy. He’s pitched better in his last two starts giving up four runs in 13 2/3 innings to the Indians and Astros. The impressive thing about those two outings was he had 11 strikeouts and no walks.
Both the Astros and Indians have better offenses than the Giants, who rank second-to-last in runs scored.
It’s hard to believe just three years ago these two teams met in the World Series. The Giants are really scruffling. The Royals are down, too, but in a better place right now. Cueto is far from the long-time ace he was with the Reds. There is clear value taking the underdog Royals.
