San Francisco Giants vs Milwaukee Brewers Prediction, Preview & Odds - August 8, 2021

Game time: 2:10 p.m. ET

Venue: American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI

Where to watch: NBCS BA, Bally Sports Wisconsin

Giants: 69-41 (1st place, NL West)

Brewers: 66-44 (1st place, NL Central)

LaMonte Wade Jr (L) RF

Brandon Belt (L) 1B

Buster Posey (R) C

Brandon Crawford (L) SS

Kris Bryant (R) 3B

Mike Yastrzemski (L) CF

Alex Dickerson (L) LF

Tommy La Stella (L) 2B

Johnny Cueto (R) P

Kolten Wong (L) 2B

Willy Adames (R) SS

Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B

Avisail Garcia (R) RF

Rowdy Tellez (L) 1B

Tyrone Taylor (R) LF

Lorenzo Cain (R) CF

Manny Pina (R) C

Brett Anderson (L) P

DraftKings: Brewers -130, Giants +110

BetMGM: Brewers -125, Giants +105

Giants: Winners of five of seven

Brewers: Have won 12 of 15

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The Milwaukee Brewers proved on Friday that they can win in a multitude of ways.

Pitching? Done. We’ve spoken of their three-headed monster in the rotation as recently as this weekend. Offense? Maybe it’s there. Rowdy Tellez has become an instant spark in the Brewers’ lineup by way of power and clutch hitting.

If we can get a playoff series much like Friday’s game between the Brewers and San Francisco Giants, sign us up for seven games of that. The Brewers and Giants will wrap up their crucial three-game set Sunday in Milwaukee, where the Brewers have a chance to make a legit statement against the team with the best record in baseball.

You watch the Brewers long enough and you think they have the magic to them, much like their basketball brothers in the same city. The weird thing about the Brewers is they don’t have a Giannis Antetoukunmpo to carry them across the finish line. What they do have is a deep team that can win in many ways.

Keep in mind they still don’t have former MVP Christian Yelich in the fold, as he continues to get back into form from COVID protocol. All-Star reliever Josh Hader is also dealing with COVID quarantine, as are a third of that roster over the past week and a half. It’s been a trying time for Milwaukee, but it still finds ways to snatch wins that seem impossible.

“I think there’s a focus here on the task at hand,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s something that’s on everybody’s mind. It has to be. It’s more than a distraction. That’s not the right word for it. But I think when the game starts, we’ve been able to put it behind us and enjoy being together, enjoy playing together, enjoy winning together. In that sense, the game is a little bit of a distraction from what’s going on. The guys have stayed focused on winning and it’s because they enjoy doing it together. It’s been great to see.”

Milwaukee scored the winning run in the 10th inning of Tellez’s single to left on Friday, a 2-1 win that was the Brewers’ fourth in fifth games and 8th in the past 10. Corbin Burnes, one of the Brewers’ triad of aces, threw seven quality innings and allowed only one run; a home run from Brandon Belt in the sixth inning. The Brewers kept pace with their seven-game lead atop the NL Central Standings over the Cincinnati Reds.

This series is a classic pitching matchup. It helped that the Giants got a stellar outing from Logan Webb (nine strikouts in six innings; his ERA is closing in at 3.00), but the offense didn’t show up when needed. Trade deadline addition Kris Bryant went 1-for-4, while the Giants went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

“I thought Webb went toe-to-toe with Burnes,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Burnes has some nasty stuff, but Webb matched him all the way through the game, with both his intensity and his stuff. He mixed his pitches well and I thought he was in the zone most of the time. He challenged their hitters and, overall, I thought he did a really good job.”

That good job wasn’t enough to get runs, but it’s proving difficult to score on this Milwaukee club. This time of year in August is when pitching shines, and while the Brewers continue to get their batters back into form from COVID, they’re going to have to carry the way for the time being. 

Sometimes, all it takes is good pitching this time of year to make it happen. That’s why you want to root for a team like this that has gone through so much adversity to make it this far. Both teams have that capability at the moment.

Johnny Cueto is 11-4 all-time against Milwaukee. His team is 16-6 overall in these starts, but the over is 7-14.

Milwaukee is now 20-6 (+14.4 units) against the NL West, but the Giants are 19-11 when road underdogs of +100 or higher. The Giants have lost five of their last six against NL Central teams while also 2-5 in their last seven at Milwaukee.

If there’s one game the Giants can get out of this, it would be this one. Cueto is a veteran who can be relied upon to get one quality start out of. Anderson will be a tough out on the mound for Milwaukee, but you have to expect the Giants to get a game out of this series. Sunday seems like a good one to do it. Giants win, under cashes.

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