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WASHINGTON NATIONALS (Bergmann 1-6, 4.03) @ SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (Zito 4-12, 5.62)

Wednesday 23 July 2008 ( UK ) 3:15AM GMT or Tuesday 22 July 2008 (US) 10:15PM Eastern Time

The average baseball match is played with three factors in mind; Batting performance, Pitching performance and Home field advantage. To be truthful, we can pretty much disregard the last of those factors as the Giants have not set the world alight with their play at Candlestick Park at all.

Let us look closer at the two pitchers taking to the mound tonight with a little more than the bare season-to-date statistics in mind.

Jason Bergmann is a relatively young man that has plenty of time to improve but his pitching performance over his career so far has been a little patchy to say the least because, although he can get plenty of strikeouts he errs in control to frequently and fins the inside corner of the plate making him a frequent candidate to be hit. Bergmann is a substitute teacher during the off-season so this gives an idea that perhaps he doesn't have the greatest of confidence in himself making it in the big leagues on a permanent basis (this is his second full season in MLB).

Taking to the mound for the Giants is the much maligned Barry Zito. Zito has had a pretty torrid season to date lets be honest, but he has shown good signs of recovery bearing in mind that he was 0-8 in the season, he is presently 4-12.

Zito still has one of the best records in the major leagues and when you consider that he is only thirty years of age it is hard to imagine that he has lost what he had, I would put it down to the pressure of his controversial $126 million seven year contract.

Possessing one of the best curveballs in the game, Zito can produce many strikeouts by fooling the batter but it has to be said his fastball is not very quick at all and can be pounced upon by batsmen if it is overused. Zito has yet to win over home fans and that must be one of his main goals.

In terms of hitting it is usually best to revert back to bare statistics. The Giants have out hit Washington by 392 to 379 runs in one less match than them, so it is clear who holds the aces in terms of the batting side of things. Washington have found a little form against a toothless Atlanta Braves side recently but over the season as a whole they have consistently failed to back up their pitchers. The loss of Ray Durham to Milwaukee Brewers has hit the Giants a little bit recently but the likes of Aaron Rowand and Bengie Molina have hit really well this season and Zito will hope for some support tonight if he can pitch well.

With in my opinion, a better pitcher and a better offensive unit it is logical for me to expect a win for the San Francisco Giants against a Washington Nationals side that has the level worst record in baseball right now. It is not a formality and as such this should be reflected in your staking, however it is not the fifty-fifty game that the bookmakers have invariably priced up.

MEN TO WATCH

Cristian Guzman (.310, 5 HR, 34 RBI, 3 SB) Washington Nationals (SS)

Aaron Rowand (.289, 9 HR, 51 RBI, 1 SB) San Francisco Giants (CF)

RECOMMENDATION - 2.5 points stake on SF Giants @ 1.91 (Bet365)

GAME STATS

RECENT FORM TEAM RECORD MONEY vsLHP vsRHP WSH 38-61 -$1523 15-21 23-40 SF 40-58 -$1330 11-18 29-40 TEAM FAVE DOG OU RUN DIFF WSH 4-10 34-51 44-52-3 -1.04 SF 12-9 28-49 48-46-4 -0.73

SMART CHART WSH   TEAM   SF 3.83   RUNS 4.00 4.87   RUNS AGNST 4.73 -1.04   DIFF -0.73 -$1,523   MONEY -$1,330 4.42   TEAM ERA 4.37 8.21   OFF HITS 8.70 3.32 OFF WALKS   3.04 6.65   OFF Ks 6.78 9.41   DEF HITS 8.81 3.59 DEF WALKS   4.12 6.48 DEF Ks   7.84