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The San Diego Padres host the San Francisco Giants for Game 2 of the final series of the season! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Giants-Padres prediction and pick.
San Francisco is a competitive baseball team. They proved this year that they can stick around and play with the best of the teams in the league. The Giants are (80-80) and hope to win this game so they can finish with at least a .500 record minimum. They will be missing out on the postseason after ending with 107 wins last year and taking the NL West crown. This will be a huge offseason for the Giants as they try and complete an already competitive roster.
The Padres took Game 1 last night thanks to a 7-run 8th inning. Wil Myers smashed a 3-run home run to cap it off and the Padres would end up winning the game 7-4. This team will be heading to the Wild Card and it is still to be determined where they will travel. If SD wins tonight, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins, then they will likely be facing the New York Mets in round 1. However, if they lose and the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Houston Astros, then they jump SD and things change. Stay tuned as it's turned into quite a memorable start to October.
Here are the Giants-Padres MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Giants-Padres Odds
San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-178)
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+146)
Over: 7.5 (-105)
Under: 7.5 (-115)
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
At the time of this writing, the Giants have yet to announce a starter for this game. Carlos Rodon was on pace to start but apparently, there has been an “innings limit” according to his agent. It will likely be a bullpen day and it's a good time to bring up the fact that Camilo Doval was named National League Reliever of the Month for September. Doval is straight-up nasty but does have location issues at times. He finished with a 1.38 ERA with two wins and nine saves. He allowed only 10 hits and struck out 16 hitters to earn the award. He didn't pitch last night so expect him to be one of the relievers for later on in this game.
If Rodon starts this game then the Giants' chances of winning boost tremendously. SF started with reliever John Brebbia in Game 1 and then Sean Hjelle replaced him going five innings. It's unclear what manager Gabe Kapler will do so wait until they announce before deciding.
The offense has been hitting very well lately. They have scored at least three runs in eight-straight games and have scored more than five runs four times during that span. The lineup isn't flashy but they are finding ways to score runs and it's been led by Wilmer Flores, Joc Pederson, and Thairo Estrada. With Evan Longoria out, that is a much-needed right-handed bad against an opposing lefty starter.
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Toeing the slab for the Friars tonight is southpaw Sean Manaea. Manaea has seriously struggled during the second half of this season. Overall, he is (7-9) with a 5.15 ERA in 152 innings. The former Oakland Athletic does elevate his game at home with a (5-3) record and 3.93 ERA. His last start was against the Los Angeles Dodgers where he allowed just one run in four innings.
He hasn't faced a team outside of an NL West opponent since August 28 and has faced the Dodgers three times since then. This will also be his first start at home against a team other than the Dodgers since August 21, where he allowed just one run in seven innings. There is hope he can turn it around tonight as the playoffs start this weekend.
The offense for the Padres woke up in the 8th inning when they scored seven runs last night. That type of inning likely won't happen again so they will need to try and produce early on. Manny Machado had the day off last night so expect him back in the lineup for Game 2.
Final Giants-Padres Prediction & Pick
This is a game that feels like it will be close. The Giants' bullpen did a great job until the 8th in Game 1 and they will likely be called on again. With Manaea not pitching at an elite level lately, take the Giants to cover this spread as they aim to finish at or above .500 this season.
Final Giants-Padres Prediction & Pick: San Francisco Giants +1.5 (-178)
