by Chuck Sommers
Friday, Aug 06, 2021
Game time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Venue: American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI
Where to watch: NBCS BA, Bally Sports Wisconsin
Season-to-date
Giants: 69-40 (1st place, NL West)
Brewers: 65-44 (1st place, NL Central)
Recent lineups
Giants:
LaMonte Wade Jr (L) RF
Tommy La Stella (L) 3B
Kris Bryant (R) CF
Alex Dickerson (L) LF
Brandon Crawford (L) SS
Donovan Solano (R) 2B
Brandon Belt (L) 1B
Curt Casali (R) C
TBD
Brewers:
Kolten Wong (L) 2B
Willy Adames (R) SS
Eduardo Escobar (S) 1B
Avisail Garcia (R) RF
Tyrone Taylor (R) LF
Lorenzo Cain (R) CF
Luis Urias (R) 3B
Manny Pina (R) C
Brandon Woodruff (R) P
Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Brewers -145, Giants +125; Over/Under 7.5 at -110
Recent form
Giants: Winners of five of six
Brewers: Have won nine of their last 12
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Brewers - Giants Preview
This weekend is carrying a fun slate of baseball. This series will be no exception.
The Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants have not faced each other since July 14, 2019. The teams faced off six times that year, with the Giants winning four of them. The Giants lead the all-time series 87-71.
The two began a three-game series on Friday in Milwaukee featuring the top two teams not named Los Angeles or San Diego. The Giants, the leaders of the stacked National League West, enter a crucial set against Milwaukee with a four-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants rallied from a four-run deficit on Thursday to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 and keep themselves within arm’s length of the revamped Dodgers.
But San Francisco has revamped itself, as well. From all the talk of the trade deadline on what the Dodgers did, the Giants have made things interesting with their acquisition of third baseman Kris Bryant. The former Chicago Cubs star has batted .333 since coming to San Francisco, including the go-ahead double in the 10th inning on Thursday.
“We had no business winning that game,” Bryant said. “Their starter really shut us down. I’ve been a part of a few teams that really do well later in the game with the backs against the wall, and this team definitely has it. It’s really fun to be a part of. It’s fun to contribute to such a good win.”
San Francisco also got some depth back with Brandon Belt returning to the lineup, which just means it’s another deep lineup and loaded offense on the way for the Giants.
But we can’t forget about the Brewers, who have become such a lovable pick for us the past few weeks. Albeit against weaker teams, the Brewers are still seven games up on the Cincinnati Reds for first place in the National League Central despite their recent surge (7-3 in the last 10).
This matchup could be a potential NLCS preview should everything fall the right way. The Dodgers may have something to say about that should they eventually play the Giants in the NLDS, but a lot can happen between now that the calendar has turned to August.
Brandon Woodruff is expected to take the mound for the Brewers. The right-handed pitcher is 7-6 this season with a spectacular 2.26 ERA, being one part of the three-headed pitching dragon with Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes.
Milwaukee is hoping that former NL MVP Christian Yelich will return within a week after testing positive for COVID. The Brewers have gotten enough offense to keep themselves going in his absence, recently from first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The 26-year-old Tellez, standing at 6-foot-4, has five homers in 21 games since being traded from Toronto. He hit the go-ahead three-run blast on Thursday.
Trends
The Giants have started off strong in the second half of the season, especially against teams with winning records. San Francisco is 7-3 against winning teams post All-Star break. It’s an early sample size, but the Giants have been able to handle business.
When the total hovers between 8 and 8.5, that’s been favoring the Brewers as of late. Milwaukee is a staggering 23-6 (+16 units), but that’s been mostly road dominant. Milwaukee has been good at home in that record (12-5, +5.4 units), but not as blistering away from what was once Miller Park.
Also, it might be fun to call the Brewers the “NL West Killers” because they’re 19-6 against the supposed best division in baseball.
Prediction
This is going to be a fun series, and Friday’s game should be an indicator of how it goes. We expect the under to cash heavily this weekend with the level of pitching that will be on display. Milwaukee has been such a fun team to watch, and the Brewers being at home, it should be a tough series. On the Saturday tilt, though, Milwaukee should pull through. Brewers win, under cashes.
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
