A showdown among the ranks of the National League will be the talk of the town heading into the weekend as the San Francisco Giants take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Giants-Phillies prediction and pick will be made.

It certainly hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies for the Giants to begin the 2024 MLB regular season. As it stands, San Francisco is 15-18 overall and are recently coming off dropping three of four games to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Obviously, if the Giants want to be taken more seriously, then they will need to start stringing together some better performances more consistently. Projected to get the start on this Saturday is Keaton Winn who is 3-3 with a 3.18 ERA on the season.

On the other side of things, it has been the Phillies that have managed to not miss a beat. With an extremely productive 22-11 record, Philadelphia will plan on sending out the fabulous southpaw in Ranger Suarez who is a perfect 5-0 to go along with an electrifying 1.32 ERA. During the week, Philly was able to dispose of the LA Angels rather easily en route to putting two of three games into the win column against their AL foes. Furthermore, the Phillies also bested the Giants in Game 1 of this series by a score of 4-3.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Giants-Phillies Odds

San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-160)

Moneyline: +138

Philadelphia Phillies: -1.5 (+132)

Moneyline: -164

Over: 7 (-115)

Under: (-105)

How to Watch Giants vs. Phillies

Time: 6:05 ET/3:05 PT

TV: MLB.TV

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Giants Will Cover The Spread/Win

Indeed, all signs point to the Giants' struggles being a direct result of a lineup and pitching staff that has left much to be desired.

Hitting-wise, San Francisco has only amassed a total of 124 runs which is only the 22nd-best mark in all of the majors. While the excuse could be made that a reason for their scuffles at the plate is due to them playing in a pitcher-friendly ballpark at Oracle Park, this is not a good enough excuse for a franchise that happened to win three World Series titles in the 2010s. Instead, remaining focused at the plate and translating that into stellar at-bats will need to be the bare minimum.

If there is one name that is going to rejuvenate this offense in the most dire of ways, look no further than the pairing of outfielder Michael Conforto and designated hitter  Jorge Soler. Although each slugger's numbers don't necessarily jump out at you, they have combined for ten home runs (five each) and have the ability to change the tone of a ballgame with one swing of a bat. Despite a multitude of things needing to go right in order to stroll into Citizens Bank Park with a victory, it is a good start for the meat of this San Francisco lineup to start coming up clutch when needed the most.

Why The Phillies Will Cover The Spread/Win

Clearly, there is a reason why many baseball fans, analysts, and experts of the game believe that the Phillies once again have a championship roster that could end up hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy by October's end.

Above all else, there are many ways Philadelphia can pounce on you in lethal fashion, but none will be as important as Ranger Suarez finding ways to continue down his path of dominance. Not only has Suarez been Philly's top hurler among the team's starting pitching staff, but one could make the case that he is well on his way to being in the NL Cy Young talks at this point of the season-long campaign.

While it is far too early to say whether or not this type of success from the mound is sustainable or not, Suarez currently has the best starting record, second-best ERA, and the top WHIP in all of baseball. Having surrendered only one run in his previous four starts, Suarez alone could be all that is needed for the Phillies to grasp a spread-covering win over the Giants in front of a roaring home crowd.

Last but not least, there's no debating that third-baseman Alec Bohm has taken his game to a whole new level in 2024. Coming into the season, Bohm's career-high in batting average came in his shortened rookie season of 2020 when he mashed a deadly .338 with the lumber in his hands. Believe it or not, Bohm is well on his way to crushing those numbers. With the second-best batting average in the league at a .358 mark along with 31 RBIs under his belt, it appears that Bohm may end up inflicting some serious damage at the expense of the Giants when Saturday is all said and done.

Final Giants-Phillies Prediction & Pick

The Giants have been attempting to keep their heads above water for weeks now, but it may be even more difficult in having to play the Phillies out on the road. Until proven otherwise, betting against Philadelphia, especially when Ranger Suarez is on the mound is not a wise move whatsoever.

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Final Giants-Phillies Prediction & Pick: Phillies -1.5 (+132)