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The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants finish off a 3-game series on Wednesday! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Giants prediction and pick.
San Diego is looking for a sweep over the NL West rivals. The Padres have escaped the first two games in SF as the Giants have fought to the very end in both games. Down 4-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Joc Pederson smashed a 2-run home run into McCovey Cove with two outs in the inning. Padres' current closer Nick Martinez was able to get the final out of the inning before the Giants could tie the game.
SD improved to (72-59) on the season and is just a half-game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2nd Wild Card spot. As for the Giants, they fell to (61-67) on the year and are 9.5 games behind the Padres for the final Wild Card spot.
Here are the Padres-Giants MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Giants Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+114)
San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-137)
Over: 7.5 (-120)
Under: 7.5 (-102)
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Starting for the Friars this afternoon is right-hander Joe Musgrove. The 2022 All-Star is finding his groove again. Musgrove has still yet to win a game since June, however, he is still one of the top starters in the league. Musgrove is (8-6) on the year with a 2.96 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 142.2 innings this season. His 131 strikeouts are 31st in the MLB and 14 of them came against the Giants. In his last start against SF, he pitched 6.0 innings allowing just six hits and one run back on August 9. The San Diego native will need to be on his game once again if they want a chance of covering this spread.
The Padres' offense doesn't hit against lefties as well as they do against right-handers. In fact, the opposing pitcher has seen success against the Padres this year as they have struggled to get on base against him. SD managed nine hits last night and the whole lineup is starting to figure it out. They struggled when Juan Soto and Josh Bell first came to SD, but now, they are getting on base and the runs are coming. Look for those two, alongside Manny Machado and Brandon Drury to get the Padres going in this one. Also, Ha-Seong Kim is turning into one of the best defensive shortstops in the game and hits lefties very well.
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
Toeing the slab for the Giants tonight is southpaw Alex Wood. Wood dominated the Padres in his last start going 6.1 innings and allowing just three hits. The Padres had no chance last time and that could be the same again in SF. Wood is (8-11) on the year with a 5.00 ERA on the season. Since that gem against SD, Wood has allowed a combined 18 runs in three starts. That is not going to get the job done. He will need a major bounce-back performance tonight as he does pitch better at home with a 4.42 ERA.
The Giants lineup needs to be more consistent. Much like Dave Roberts for the Dodgers, manager Gabe Kapler loves to play the lefty-righty game. Depending on who the opponent starter is, he bases the lineup on which side they throw on. Expect a lineup filled with left-handed hitters like Pederson, Mike Yastrzemski, Lamonte Wade Jr., and Brandon Crawford. Brandon Belt is still on the 10-day IL or else he would likely start as well. They will need to attack Musgrove early because once Musgrove is locked in, he usually pitches at least seven innings.
Final Padres-Giants Prediction & Pick
This should once again be another close battle and so taking the Giants to cover this spread at home is the right call.
Final Padres-Giants Prediction & Pick: Giants +1.5 (-137)
