Bryan Power

8* San Francisco (4:05 ET): In yesterday’s analysis (when I told you to take them), I talked about how the Giants’ pitching has been quite good so far this season. Sure enough, Friday starter Johnny Cueto stepped up and was one out shy of delivering a complete game. Cueto allowed just one run on four hits in his 8 ⅔ innings of work. While it took until the 7th inning for him to get any run support, San Fran did win the game 3-1. I expect them to win again Saturday, possibly by a much larger margin. 

It’s now six straight games where Giants’ pitching has allowed four runs or fewer. Trying to extend that streak to seven will be Saturday starter Logan Webb. While his first start of 2021 was hardly one of the best we’ve seen from the Giants’ rotation thus far, he did allow only three runs in 5 ⅓. The problem was that he got zero run support and thus it ended up being a 4-0 loss to Seattle. Something else I discussed in yday’s analysis was the Rockies’ perennial offensive decline away from home. Well, yesterday was their first road game and we all saw what happened. Webb should be fine here. 

It would be nice if the Giants could get their offense on track. Despite winning four of their last six games, they’ve topped three runs just one time in that stretch! On Saturday, they’ll be facing Chi Chi Gonzalez, who makes his first start of 2021 for the Rockies. His 2020 was not impressive. Over four outings, Gonzalez posted an 8.57 ERA and 1.757 WHIP. The two road starts were even worse (11.13 ERA, 2.297 WHIP). While Gonzalez didn’t factor into either decision, somehow the Rockies beat the Giants TWICE last year when he was on the mound. Don’t see it happening again. Colorado is only 42-70 L112 road games. Excluding ONE inning, Giants pitching has allowed all of 17 runs so far. 8* San Francisco

analysis soon

7* Over Makdessi/Bahamondes (2:10 ET): This is a fight scheduled for three rounds in the UFC’s Lightweight Division (155 lbs) between John Makdessi (17-7 overall, 10-7 in UFC) and Ignacio Bahamondes, who is 11-3 overall and making his UFC debut. The fight takes place on the prelims and can be viewed on ESPN. I like for it to (likely) go to the scorecards, or at least get past the midway point of Round 3. Take the Over 2.5 rounds.

Makdessi has been in the UFC for just over a decade. He’s been used sparingly since 2016, but it is during that time he’s experienced his most success. He was actually on a nice 4-1 run before losing (by decision) to Francisco Trinaldo in March of last year. That was Makdessi’s fourth consecutive fight to go to the judge’s, so you can see why I like the Over here. (He won the previous three, for the record). Overall, 10 of his last 14 fights have gone to the cards.

Bahamondes is coming off a win in Dana White’s Contenders Series, a 2nd round KO of Edson Gomez back in December. Before that, he’d been involved in three consecutive decisions, two wins and one loss. I don’t think Makdessi is likely to take Bahamondes down, thus this fight is likely to be mostly standing. While that’s a little scary for betting the Over, I think much of the fight will be Makdessi respecting Bahamondes’ range (he’s 6’3”, which is tall for a lightweight), so there won’t be a ton of enthralling exchanges. 7* Over Makdessi/Bahamondes

8* Jack Shore (1:10 ET): This is a fight scheduled for three rounds in the UFC’s Bantamweight Division (135 lbs) between the undefeated Jack Shore (13-0 overall, 2-0 UFC) and Hunter Azure (9-1, 2-1). It takes place on the prelims, which can be viewed on ESPN. 

The unbeaten Shore last fought in July when he defeated Aaron Phillips via rear-naked choke at 2:29 of the second round. It was his third straight win via rear-naked choke and what I really like is that all but one of his 13 career victories have come by stoppage, the rear-naked choke being the most frequent finish. While I can’t guarantee a quick finish here, look for Shore to assert himself late in the fight and at the very least win on the cards.

Azure sometimes gasses late in his fights and his defense is questionable. So that’s where I look for Shore to make his mark. Azure is coming off a decision win last September over Cole Smith, which was a nice rebound from his only career defeat, a second round KO at the hands of Brian Kelleher last May. But even in the decision win over Smith, you could see Azure getting tired late. It should be noted that the one loss came at featherweight. Still, I think Shore has the edge standing and certainly if it goes to the ground. 8* Jack Shore

10* Chelsea (12:30 ET): Fresh off an impressive win in the 1st leg of their Champions League quarterfinal, Chelsea will look to get back on track on the domestic side of things Saturday at Crystal Palace. The Blues currently sit in 5th place in the Premier League table, one point out of the top four. The reason they are no longer in the coveted top four is because of an absolutely embarrassing loss they took last weekend at the hands of bottom three West Brom. Based on what I saw Wednesday, I’m willing to chalk that up as an aberration and will call for them to get the full three points here against a side in the bottom half of the table. 

Crystal Palace is pretty safe when it comes to remaining in the English top flight for next season. They currently sit in 12th place and are 12 points clear of the relegation zone. However, only four clubs have a worse YTD goal differential than CP’s -16. They’ve won only one time in their last five matches, drawing three, including 1-1 against Everton on Monday. It’s a relatively short turnaround here for them, although not as short compared to Chelsea, who recorded its 2-0 win over FC Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

Still, despite the shorter turnaround, Chelsea remains the clearly stronger side in this matchup. It’s not just that they’re chasing the top four, other sides such as Liverpool and Tottenham are hot on their heels. So a win here is a real must. They had no problem with Crystal Palace in the reverse fixture, winning 4-0 at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season. Only 1st place Man City has conceded fewer goals this campaign than Chelsea, so I’ll reiterate that the shocking loss (5-2!) to West Brom last week was a total aberration. 10* Chelsea