The San Diego Padres travel to play the Cincinnati Reds as they start their weekend series. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Reds prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Padres come into the game reeling. They have now lost five straight games, including being swept by the Pirates. In the final game of the series, there was controversy over the game being played over poor air quality. The offense may have benefited from the day off, as it has struggled as of late. The Padres have lost eight of their last ten games, and in those losses have managed just 21 runs. In the two wins, the Padres scored 23 runs.

The Reds are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They just took two of three in Baltimore, and have won 14 of their last 17 games overall. They now sit tied for first in the NL Central with a 43-28 record on the season. The offense has been rolling in that time frame. On the season the Reds have averaged 4.96 runs per game while averaging 6.35 runs per game in their last 17 games.

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

MLB Odds: Padres-Reds Odds

San Diego Pirates: -1.5 (+112)

Cincinnati Reds: +1.5 (-134)

Over: 11 (-108)

Under: 11 (-112)

How To Watch Padres vs. Reds

TV: SDPA/BSOH

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 5:10 PM ET/ 2:10 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

The Padres ended June just 3.5 games out of a wild card spot at 25-30 on the season. The Padres have gone 12-14 on the month and are not eight games out of a wild-card spot. They are only one of six teams in the National League with a positive run differential on the season, and that is because of the hot and cold nature of their offense. The Padres have scored just 12 runs in their last five games, resulting in losses. The game before their losing streak the Padres scored 13. When the offense is on, it's solid, but when it's not, it's dreadful. This trend has been going on all year. In wins, the Padres are hitting .285 and averaging 6.65 runs per game. In losses, they are hitting .188 and averaging 2.21 runs per game.

Yesterday, the major bats in the offense were silent. Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Xander Bodaerts, and Jake Cronenworth went a combined three for 18, with no RBIS and just one run scored. The run production came from Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham. The hottest bat on the team may belong to Ha-Seong Kim. Kim has driven in 12 runs this month while hitting .291. He also has four home runs in the month. All four of those home runs and nine of the 12 RBIs have come in his last seven games.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has also been hitting well before going 0-5 yesterday. He is currently hitting .324 for the month with 17 RBIs and six home runs. The most impressive part is he has been patient at the plate. Tatis has walked 13 times bringing his OBP to .408 for the month. Juan Soto drew two more walks yesterday, giving him 23 walks this month. This has brought his OBP for the month to .422, which has led to him scoring 13 times this month.

The Padres will send Seth Lugo to the mound today. He is 3-4 on the year with a 4.01 ERA. His two starts this month have been better than most of his starts this year. He has gone ten combined inning giving up just four runs. Still, the offense has not supported him heavily. He is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. With missing time at the end of May into the start of June, Lugo has not won a start since May 3rd.

Why The Reds Could Cover The Spread

The Reds' offense is hot. They have been good all year as well. The Reds are seventh in the majors in runs scored this year while sitting fourth in on-base percentage, 11th in batting average, and 13th in slugging. Much of the improvement has come with the insertion of rookie Elly De La Cruz into the lineup. Since joining the lineup on June 6th, the Reds are 16-5. De La Cruz has been batting .301 with 11 RBIs and three home runs. He also has two triples and five doubles while stealing nine bases and scoring 20 times.

The team leader in batting average and RBIs this year has been Spencer Steer. Steer has not been hitting as well this month, hitting just .256. Meanwhile, he has walked 16 times and been hit by four pitches, bringing his OBP to .393 on the month. He has walked in each of the last four games. Steer has driven in 18 runs with the help of four home runs and five doubles. He has been hot as of late. Hitting .350 in his last six games with two home runs and six RBIs.

The hottest bat as of late may be Matt McLain. McClain has driven in ten runs in his last six games. He is hitting .333 in that time frame, while also hitting three home runs and four doubles in his last six games.

On the hill today will be Graham Ashcraft. Things have not gone well for him in his last three starts. He has pitched just 10.2 innings while giving up 19 runs. That has resulted in a 16.03 ERA and an 0-3 record in June. He is 3-6 overall on the season with a 7.17 ERA, but that was at just 5.55 before his rough month.

Final Padres-Reds Prediction & Pick

While Ashcraft has not been good as of late, the Padres have been terrible. Still, it is hard to not expect the Padres to get something going today against Ashcraft. Lugo has not been great either and the Reds bats have been on fire. There may be a lot of runs scored in this one. If the Reds keep up their production and the Padres can figure out some offense, the over may hit before the end of the fifth inning. The over/under for the first five innings is at 6.5 with the over being +108. That may be a good play here. Still, the Reds will win this one.

Final Padres-Reds Prediction & Pick:  Reds +1.5 (-134) and Over 11 (-108)