The Oakland Athletics take on the San Diego Padres. Our MLB odds series has our Athletics Padres prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Athletics Padres.

The San Diego Padres are in position for a National League wild card spot. That's the good news for the Padres through more than two months of play this season. The bad news is that this team is under .500 and not playing at the level it expects of itself. The Padres are fortunate that other National League teams have not passed them in the standings, but they are in a position where they should be immensely frustrated that they haven't been able to build a big lead in the wild card race. All the other teams which are struggling — the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, and New York Mets — might not continue to struggle as a group. At least one of them, maybe two, might finally wake up and play good baseball over the next four months. If the Padres don't pick it up and improve in their own right, they might get passed over for a playoff spot. If that happens, it would be a huge and crushing disappointment for a franchise which has invested so heavily in big-name players and has tried to put a winning product on the field. The talent is so much better than the results have shown. The Padres were the most disappointing team in the National League last season, with Juan Soto failing to make the playoffs in a year when the 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks made the playoffs and then reached the World Series. If San Diego fails to make the playoffs in two consecutive seasons despite the National League being noticeably weak, it will be hard to overstate the extent to which the Friars have failed.

Here are the Athletics-Padres MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Athletics-Padres Odds

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-126)

San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+105)

Over: 7.5 (+108)

Under: 7.5 (-132)

How To Watch Athletics vs. Padres

TV: NBC Sports California (Athletics) / MLB (Padres) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.tv

Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT

*Watch Athletics-Padres LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread

The Padres are a head-scratching 15-21 in 36 home games so far this season. It defies description and logic, but the Padres struggle at Petco Park. They were a modest 44-37 in 81 home games last season. If you combine that 2023 record with the 2024 mark, San Diego is 59-58 straight up in its last 117 home games. Given that the Padres are regularly a money line favorite at home — only against the Dodgers and a few other select opponents are they a money line underdog — it's clear that San Diego has a sub-.500 record against the spread in those 117 home games. Betting against the Padres relative to the spread at home has been a profitable venture if done every game without fail over the past 1.5 seasons.

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

The Padres have Dylan Cease on the mound in this game. Cease is a high-level pitcher who should be able to handcuff Oakland hitters, who have been terrible over the past two weeks as the A's have plummeted in the standings. Oakland had a very good month of April, but the A's have not been able to sustain that pace since then. Cease should be able to carve them up here.

Final Athletics-Padres Prediction & Pick

Dylan Cease versus the light-hitting A's is a mismatch. The Padres are arguably the most frustrating team in baseball to bet on, but even they can't mess this one up … right?

Final Athletics-Padres Prediction & Pick: Padres -1.5