Atlanta at San Francisco

The San Francisco Giants got a superb performance last night from ace right-hander Tim Lincecum and they needed it as they won just 1-0. Lincecum went the distance striking out 14. Matt Cain gets the ball for game two and despite good numbers the Giants are just 24-21 in his last 45 starts dating back to last year. Tommy Hansen gets the ball for the Braves and he has finished strong as over his last three starts, he allowed just one run in 20.2 inning of work for a microscopic ERA of 0.44. In his only start vs. the Giants on the season, he allowed just a single run in seven innings. Hanson has been a lot better on an extra day's rest, and the Braves have benefitted by going 9-3. The first game in this series ended with one total run scored. That may be a sign of things to come. The Braves have now played seven of their last eight playoffs games to the UNDER, while the Giants have played to a 10-1 mark to the UNDER in their last 11 at home vs. a right-hander. Atlanta has averaged 3.3 runs per game over their last seven while the Giants have managed just 3.0 per game over that same span. Both teams have excellent bullpens and both teams start pitchers with sub 3.50 ERAs. I like the Braves and the UNDER in this one.