1st Oct - Giants vs Dodgers

The San Francisco Giants got a strong performance from Mike Leake last night, they’ll now hope that Tim Hudson can make his last appearance on the mound a memorable one.

Hudson’s 17-year career has included four All-Star appearances was spent mostly with the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves, where he posted 15 consecutive winning seasons, but he has filled a role for the Giants during the last two years despite less impressive statistics. He announced his retirement earlier this month.

It’s difficult to know what to expect from Hudson. Emotionally it’s a big game from a pitcher who hasn’t been throwing the ball all that well. He is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in four starts since joining the starting rotation, though it isn’t clear how many innings he’ll be able to pitch on Thursday.

Brett Anderson is considered by many to be the third man in this rotation behind Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. However, he’s been hit very hard in two straight starts and has a poor record at AT&T Park.

LA’s two-hit performance was disappointing in the context of their pursuit of the New York Mets for home field advantage in the postseason. There wasn’t a lot to be impressed by there.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. Hudson’s swan song

The Giants are an emotional team and we think that they will come through with a big performance in this game, one way or another. They’ll play a determined game and we think Hudson will make his way through a few innings.

2. Anderson AT&T Park challenges

Anderson has been hit hard in his last couple of his starts and he doesn’t have a very good record at AT&T Park or against San Francisco. He isn’t a good pick in this match-up.

3. Dodgers out of sync

We liked them in the previous game because we felt they were due, last night’s performance suggests that they are not! They’ve lost eight of their last 11 games and it looks unlikely that they will catch the Mets.