In this article we will formulate a San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates prediction for this MLB game on Friday, April 26th at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in this series.
Can the Giants Continue to Score Runs?
The San Francisco Giants are 12-14 this year and they have won three of their last five games. San Francisco is coming off of a series win against the Mets, where they won two out of three games and scored 12 runs in the series. Prior to that series win, the Giants lost two out of three against Arizona and won two out of three against the Marlins. San Francisco hasn’t had the best scoring offense this year, but they have scored at least five runs in four of their last seven games.
The San Francisco pitching staff has a 4.78 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and a .257 opponent batting average. The Giants offense has scored 107 runs with a .247 batting average and a .315 on base percentage. Michael Conforto is batting .277 with five home runs and 16 RBI’s for the Giants this year. San Francisco is two games below .500 and they haven’t pitched very well at all, but they are battling with the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks in the NL West.
Pirates Look to Get Back on Track
The Pittsburgh Pirates are 13-13 this season and they have lost eight of their last ten games. Pittsburgh is coming off of a series split with the Brewers, where they won two games and lost two games. Prior to that series, the Pirates were swept by the Red Sox and Mets, where they were out scored 36-9 in six games. Pittsburgh started the season with a 9-2 record, but they are just 4-11 in 15 games since.
The Pittsburgh pitching staff has a 3.84 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a .227 opponent batting average. The Pirates offense has scored 109 runs with a .237 batting average and a .322 on base percentage. Bryan Reynolds is batting .270 with three home runs and 15 RBI’s for the Pirates this year. Pittsburgh needs to get their bats hitting again, as they have scored two runs or fewer in seven of their last nine games.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for San Francisco is Kyle Harrison, who is 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP over 27.0 innings pitched this year. Harrison has allowed exactly three earned runs in each of his last three starts and he has allowed at least six hits in four of his five starts. Pittsburgh is projected to start Quinn Priester, who is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP over 4.1 innings pitched. Priester allowed four earned runs and seven hits over 4.1 innings in his first start of the season against Boston. It is tough to say who has the pitching advantage in this game, especially with Priester only having one start, but Harrison does have the benefit of playing a cold Pirates offense.
San Francisco Giants Team Facts
- The Giants have won each of their last six games following a loss.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the last five games between the Pirates and Giants.
- The Giants have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last seven Friday night home games.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Giants’ last 10 games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The Giants have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five Friday games as home favorites.
Pittsburgh Pirates Team Facts
- The Pirates have won each of their last three games as road underdogs against NL West opponents following a loss.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five road games against National League opponents following a home loss.
- The Pirates have led after 3 innings in each of their last three Friday night games as underdogs.
- The Pirates have led after 5 innings in three of their last four games as road underdogs against NL West opponents.
- The Pirates have led after 7 innings in each of their last five Friday night games as underdogs.
San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction
San Francisco comes into this series after taking two out of three against a hot Mets team and they should have momentum here. The Giants are below .500 at the moment, but they are 7-6 at home. Pittsburgh has really cooled off after a hot start to the season and they have one of the lowest scoring offenses over the last three weeks. I don’t love either starting pitcher in this matchup, but I do think San Francisco is hitting the ball better. My San Francisco Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates prediction is the Giants to grab a home win in game one.