NLDS Reds vs. Giants Game 3 Picks/Betting Preview

The Reds are looking to close out their opening series against the giants in about 30 minutes from now. The spread is Reds -1.5 (+158) and Giants +1.5 (-175) This means that if you pick the Reds to cover the 1.5 runs that they are favored to win by, you get an additional 58 cents or 0.58 units to your potential winnings for every dollar/unit you bet. Ryan Vogelsong will take the rubber for the Giants, who are hoping to avoid elimination, and Homer Bailey, fresh off two dominant performances including a no hitter against the Pirates on September 28th, will take the mound for the Reds. Both pitchers have similar ERA's as Vogelsong has the slight advantage with his 3.37 ERA compared to Bailey's 3.68. However, it was Bailey who has been dominant most recently, as he had a total ERA of only 2.02 in the month of September. Meanwhile, Vogelsong has been atrocious in August and September, posting ERA's of 6.32 and 6.48. Bailey has struggled throughout the season at home, however we expect that the fan base in Cincinatti will be energized, and spread the energy to not only Homer, but also to the Red's bats. San Francisco hasn't even been close in game 1 and 2 when they were at home, and they have 3 players in their lineup that have yet to record a hit in the series. Unless the Giants bats suddenly wake from hibernation and tee off on Homer Bailey, we don't see them winning. With the Reds getting odds to cover, they're a must pick in this game. Even if they don't manage to cover, we don't see the Giants putting up too many runs on Homer Bailey, so we'll take the under and sort of "hedge" our bet seeing that we're getting odds to take Reds -1.5. The Pick: 2 Units to get 3 Units on Reds -1.5  and  Under 7.5 for 2 units.   We would have to be totally off to lose units based on the bets we will place. A likely case is that the two picks will end up cancelling each other out.