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The San Diego Padres look to even the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a padres-Diamondbacks prediction and pick.
The Padres played great until the final inning of the game last night. Yu Darvish pitched excellent not allowing a hit in six innings of work. The Padres collapsed in the ninth inning when reliever Robert Suarez entered the game. He couldn't find the zone at all and forced the bases loaded with zero outs. The D-backs then walked it off as Seth Beer launched a moonshot to win the game on national Beer day. Yes, you read that right. San Diego will look to bounce back tonight.
The D-backs couldn't get a hit against Darvish but forced his pitch count to take him out of the game. The Padres then allowed the D-backs to come back in the ninth inning after not being able to find the zone between two different pitchers. Arizona has a lot to improve on if they want to score more runs, but the Padres may seem like they are far from where they want to be as well.
Here are the Padres-Diamondbacks MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Diamondbacks Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+114)
Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-137)
Over: 9 (-120)
Under: 9 (-102)
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Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
The Friars are sending out newly acquired Sean Manaea to start in his Padres' debut. Manaea was dealt from the Oakland Athletics to the Padres on the same day they were facing each other in Spring Training. What's even funnier is that Manaea was scheduled to pitch against SD but ended up pitching against the A's instead. That hasn't happened many times before. The southpaw ended 2021 with an (11-10) record and 3.91 ERA. He struck out 194 batters in 179.1 innings.
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The Padres need to step up offensively if they want to cover this spread. They come in as the favorites on the road again but only finished with four hits last night. From the fifth inning on last night the Padres couldn't do anything offensively. That will need to change if they want to win this game by two runs. Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth need to have better games as the team will rely on their hitting right now.
Catcher Austin Nola led off the game for the Padres. He was the first catcher to do that on Opening Day since Jason Kendall did in 2007. he played well and knocked in an RBI in the loss. It will be interesting to see how he plays this season as a catcher who can play the infield if needed.
Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover The Spread
The D-backs proved that you play nine innings for a reason. They (much like SD) couldn't really get anything going last night. Arizona played fantastic in the ninth, but much of that was a collapse on the Padres' bullpen. They pretty much gave them the game as Suarez couldn't find the zone and the D-backs took advantage of it.
Arizona is sending out Merrill Kelly who has had major success against the Padres in the past. He pitched decent last season overall going (7-11) with a 4.44 ERA. His strength is limiting walks as he only walked 44 batters in 158 innings last season. Kelly will more than likely pitch as far into the game as he can go because Arizona doesn't have a strong bullpen either. Mark Melancon should be their closer who pitched for the Padres last season. Melancon is now on his third NL West team.
Arizona can cover this spread as they did last night. They are given two runs which seems like it is doable once again. They will be facing a lefty today and so that will change their lineup a little. Expect this game to be close as neither side has proven anything since the second half of last season.
Final Padres-Diamondbacks Prediction & Pick
The D-backs found a way to win last night and since they are the underdogs again, I expect them to cover this spread. With how last night turned out, I can't see the Padres winning by more than a run.
Final Padres-Diamondbacks Pick: Diamondbacks +1.5 (-137)
