The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres clash for another NL West matchup! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Diamondbacks-Padres prediction and pick.

 

The Diamondbacks are coming off of a series loss to the San Francisco Giants. They won the first game but lost the second two by a combined score of 17-3. They look to bounce back and climb the NL West rankings as they face a struggling team in front of them. The D-backs are (39-50) on the year and fifth in the West by 1.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies.

The Padres are going through it right now but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Despite going (3-7) in their last 10 games, they remain one of the better teams in the league when they play at their best. SD is (50-41) overall but just lost to the Rockies in their previous series. After going up on a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers just a few weeks ago, the Padres are struggling to win and are now 9.5 games behind the Dodgers.

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

MLB Odds: Diamondbacks-Padres Odds

Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-137)

San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+114)

Over: 7.5 (-102)

Under: 7.5 (-120)

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Why The Diamondbacks Could Cover The Spread

Tonight's pitching duel will feature two of the best pitchers over the last decade. For the D-backs, Madison Bumgarner will start once again against the Friars. The southpaw is putting together a solid campaign this year and faced SD twice in a row back at the end of June. In the first outing, he allowed nine hits and six runs in just four innings. However, just seven days later, Bumgarner pitched five innings and allowed one run off of four hits. You don't know which Bumgarner you will get in this one, but he will certainly try and give the Padres fits once again.

The D-backs offense will need Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, and Daulton Varsho to attack Yu Darvish tonight. Walker leads the team with 21 home runs but only has a .205 batting average. If he can get on base tonight then expect the rest of the lineup to pick him up. Marte is batting .269 which is the best on the roster. With the Padres bullpen struggling as of late, Arizona knows that they need to get Darvish out of the game as soon as possible.

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

Darvish will start tonight for the Friars making his 17th appearance. In 101 innings, he has an ERA of 3.38 and is 43rd in baseball with 91 strikeouts. Darvish has a WHIP of 0.99 which is 11th in baseball as well. The right-hander pitches a lot better at home which is a good sign for the Padres in this one. He is (4-1) with a 1.69 ERA in 53 innings. The Dbacks will likely have fits all night long if Darvish is on his game once again.

San Diego needs their offense to improve drastically. The good news is that Fernando Tatis Jr. is close to returning after the latest update. The offense needs him back in the lineup badly as even playing in Coors Field didn't really pick up their slack.

The offense is struggling to score runs as of late and will need Manny Machado to lead the team. Machado is playing very well this season batting .307 with 15 home runs and 51 RBIs. Jake Cronenworth is also someone who needs to catch fire as he leads the team with 342 ABs.

Facing a southpaw tonight, the Padres need Machado, Luke Voit, Ha-Seong Kim, and Jorge Alfaro to see the ball well tonight. Rookie outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been a huge bright spot the last few games as the rookie is hitting .333 with a triple and a double in just 12 ABs. Ruiz might earn more playing time with Wil Myers and Jurickson Profar still out of the lineup.

Final Diamondbacks-Padres Prediction & Pick

This isn't an easy pick to make. This has the makings of being a close game and so the D-backs spread is the right call to make. They should be able to keep this a 1-score game.

Final Diamondbacks-Padres Prediction & Pick: Diamondbacks +1.5 (-137)