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The San Diego Padres hope to start the second half of their season strong as they face the Philadelphia Phillies. It is now time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Phillies prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Padres ended the first half of their season hot. They won five of their last six games, but have won just six of their last seven overall. The Padres enter the second half of the season below .500 with a 43-47 record and are 8.5 games back of the Dodgers and Diamondbacks for first in the division. They need a good series here, as they also sit six games back of the Giants for the last wildcard spot with both the Phillies and Brewers in between them.
The Phillies ended the first half of the season on a two-game skid, after losing two of three to the Marlins. Still, the Phillies have won six of their last ten, and since June 1st have gone 23-10. The Phillies are now 48-41 on the season and 12 games back of the Braves for first. They will be looking to make a playoff run, as they are just a half-game out of the last wild-card spot as of now.
Here are the Padres-Phillies MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Phillies Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+140)
Philadelphia Phillies: +1.5 (-170)
Over: 9.5 (-105)
Under: 9.5 (-115)
How To Watch Padres vs. Phillies
TV: SDPA/NBCSP
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:05 PM ET/ 3:05 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
On the season, the Padres offense has been fairly average. They are tied for 17th in runs scored, 23rd in batting average, 14th in on-base percentage, and 18th in slugging. Still, they have some players starting to pick it up as of late. Manny Machado is having a great month so far. He is hitting .406 so far this month, with six home runs. He finished the first half with three home runs in the three-game series with the Mets while driving in eight runs. In eight games this month, Machado has already driven in 16 runs, while scoring ten.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been solid in July as well. He has been hitting .400 in July while driving in seven runs. Tatis has hit three doubles, a triple, and a home run this month. He has also scored eight times. While Tatis Jr. and Machado have started their month hot, Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts have not.
Bogaerts has hit just .200 this month while striking out nine times. His series with the Mets was awful. He went just 1-12 with four strikeouts and no RBIs. He has hit two home runs on the month and driven in seven runs though. Soto has been even worse. He is hitting just .179 for the month with five RBIs and a home run. Soto has not struck out as much, and is making solid contact. This should turn around if he can continue making good contact with the ball.
On the hill for the Padres will be Yu Darvish. Darvish is 5-6 on the year with a 4.87 ERA. The last time out was not his best. He went five innings while giving up three runs and a home run. He has not had a win since June 9th and had not let up less than three runs in a game since June 3rd. Darvish has historically been better in the second half of the season, and he will be looking to get his second half off hot.
Why The Phillies Could Cover The Spread
The Phillies will be hoping their offense can keep rolling. They have won 23 of 33 games as of late, and much of that has been due to the offense. On the season the Phillies are tied for 17th in runs scored, while sitting 17th in on-base percentage, tenth in slugging, and eighth in batting average. Leading the way for them has been Nick Castellanos. He is 13th in the majors with a .301 batting average this year. Castellanos has been a little down in July so far. He is hitting just .235 and struggling with strikeouts. He has struck out in each of his last six games and did so in the All-Star game as well. Still, he has driven in six runs with the help of three home runs in July.
Coming into the game hot is Christian Pache. He is hitting .364 so far this month with an OBP of .417. He has scored twice while driving in four runs and hitting a home run this month. The Phillies would like to see some of their starts come out of the break hot. Trea Turner is hitting just .229 this month with two home runs and three RBIs.
Bryce Harper's biggest concern is injury. He was day-to-day heading into the break but was hitting well. He was hitting .346 on the month with three RBIs and five runs scored. Harper also had a .414 on-base percentage and hit four doubles so far this month.
The Phillies will be sending out Christopher Sanchez in this one. He is 0-2 on the year with a 2.84 ERA. Last time out he went six inning and gave up just one run on a solo home run against the Rays. He did not get a decision though, as the game was tied at one heading into extra innings. This year, he has not given up more than three runs in any of his five starts, while giving up one or fewer in three. Still, he does not have a win on the year.
Final Padres-Phillies Prediction & Pick
While Sanchez has pitched better than Darvish this year, Darvish has a much better track record. The pitching wedge should go slightly to the Padres in this one, but it is close. Still, the Phillies offense has been better. The Padres have the better line-up overall. If they are all hitting well, they will score a ton of runs and win. Against an inexperienced pitcher, they could easily do that. Pick the Padres over the Phillies in this one.
Final Padres-Phillies Prediction & Pick: Padres -1.5 (+140)
