MLB Baseball
2026-08-24 - Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Monday 24th August 2026 - Scheduled 9:45pm EST
2:45am (British Time)
Preview
The hopes and dreams for these respective fanbases will have to be put on hold until the 2027 season and the final month of the regular season could be a time to analyse players and just prepare for the next campaign.
The Cincinnati Reds (62-69) have fallen into the basement of the National League Central and they are 9 games outside of the Wild Card positions, but with little consistency to have any realistic hope of closing that down. Ultimately games are also running out, while the San Francisco Giants (52-78) have felt out of contention for several weeks.
With that in mind, the home team are giving players a chance to impress and they will persevere with Carson Whisenhunt going to the mound. The second year Major League pitcher has a 3-4 record and 7.03 ERA in seven starts this season, but the numbers have been considerably poorer than his rookie campaign with a similar sample size of games.
Carson Whisenhunt was rocked hard in his last start against the Cleveland Guardians when allowing six earned runs in 4 Innings thrown. That makes it four of the last five starts ending with at least four runs allowed and it is no surprise that the losses have racked up for the young pitcher.
He will be appearing against the Cincinnati Reds for the first time and the San Francisco Giants will need Carson Whisenhunt to find something to help them remain competitive in this game.
That is down to the fact that the Reds will also be using a sophomore starting pitcher, but one who has been in strong form throughout 2026.
Chase Burns has a 14-2 record and 2.51 ERA in twenty-four starts for the Cincinnati Reds in 2026 and he will be very happy with his personal level. The team may have a decision to make about when they should shut Burns down for the season so the arm is well rested ahead of the 2027 year, but every time he goes to the mound, Chase Burns will be looking to impress.
In only one of the last six starts has Chase Burns allowed more than a two earned runs and he has bounced back from one rough outing in August to throw 12 Innings and allow just two runs in consecutive starts. Earlier this season, Burns threw 6 Innings without giving up a run against the San Francisco Giants, although he did not factor into the decision on the day.
Neither team can point to any consistent recent form, but the Reds did take two of three when hosting San Francisco in April.
Prediction
It is very difficult to ignore the clear edge on the starting mound in favour of the Cincinnati Reds and that may see them take this game on Monday evening.
The only holdback on being very confident in the road team is the fact that the Reds have struggled for any consistency, but the batting lineup should find enough big hits against Carson Whisenhunt to make use of what is likely to be another solid Chase Burns start.
The Pick :
San Francisco Giants 2-6 Cincinnati Reds
