MLB News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Newsletter

Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)

MLB best bets: Giants vs. Diamondbacks odds, picks and prediction for Sunday, 4/21

Originally posted on Action Network | By Sean Paul | Last updated 4/20/24

Let's head to Oracle Park in San Francisco, where the Giants are set to host Arizona Diamondbacks for the fourth and final game of this weekend series. The Giants took two of the first three, but what's the best way to bet Sunday's series finale?

The Giants enter as small -115 favorites against the Diamondbacks, who are -105 on the money line. The over/under of 7.5 runs makes sense as this may be a NL West pitching duel.

Giants vs. Diamondbacks Odds

Sunday, April 21, 4:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV

Giants Odds
Moneyline	Total	Run Line
-105	7.5 -115/-105	-1.5 +162

Diamondbacks Odds
Moneyline	Total	Run Line
-115	7.5 -115/-105	+1.5 -192

Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute MLB odds here.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants signed Jordan Hicks to a hefty contract after he spent the final part of the 2023 season with the Blue Jays. The Giants have seen a decent return on their investment thus far, as Hicks has pitched to a 1.57 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 23 innings.

Hicks' main pitch is a sinker, which ranges from 95-100 mph and is used to generate ground balls — which is why Hicks isn't a big strikeout pitcher, despite throwing triple-digit gas. However, he did issues a trio of walks in his most recent outing, so he'll need to show better command in this matchup.

The Giants pulled out an impressive 7-3 win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday. The offense, which had been struggling, showed signs of life and tagged Cy Young candidate Zac Gallen for five runs in five innings.

Most importantly, Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Wilmer Flores started hitting. Chapman collected a pair of hits, Lee homered for the second time and Flores is looking to prove that his 135 wRC+ (a career high) from a season ago wasn't a fluke.

The Diamondbacks boast the lowest strikeout percentage in baseball (17%), so expect a lot of balls in play.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Opposing Hicks is Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly, who continues to be a trustworthy top-end starter. Kelly owns a 2.19 ERA with a 3.24 FIP through three starts this season. He doesn't possess the same electrifying velocity as Hicks, but provides innings and gets outs.

The Diamondbacks' offense is tough to figure out. In the past two weeks, Arizona notched a pair of double-digit run-scoring games, but then failed to score more than three runs the following night.

Overall, Arizona's offense ranks in the top 10 in baseball with a 109 wRC+. Surprisingly, rookie infielder Blaze Alexander leads the Diamondbacks with a 174 wRC+ and is followed by Ketel Marte (164), who ranks in the 96th percentile in hard-hit percentage and average exit velocity.

You can attribute the ebbs-and-flows of the Diamondbacks' lineup to the streaky play of Christian Walker and Eugenio Suarez. Both big-bopping righties are known to be streaky hitters and are slumping at the wrong time. Suarez is 3-for-23 in his past seven games, while Walker is hitting.259 with a .251 slugging percentage in the same stretch.

D-backs fans, Fanatics Sportsbook Arizona is live! Sign up today to unlock its exciting offer: bet and get up to $1,000 in Bonus Bets!

Giants vs. Diamondbacks

Betting Pick & Prediction

The Diamondbacks rarely swing and miss, which could lead to a barrage of ground-ball outs for Hicks. If Hicks can provide the Giants with six or seven innings, that'll lead San Francisco directly into the Tyler Rogers, Taylor Rogers and Camilo Doval portion of the game. All three pitched Saturday, but Doval threw just 16 pitches and the Rogers twins threw 10 or fewer pitches. All three should be ready to pitch Sunday.

Bullpens often decide games, and the Diamondbacks' bullpen is one to fade until Paul Sewald returns.

I'm rolling with the Giants to win a third game in the series.