Subscribe
Follow Us
The Detroit Tigers host the San Diego Padres for Game 2 of the series in The Motor City. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Tigers prediction and pick.
The Friars took Game 1 last night thanks to the slugging from Juan Soto. The Padres left fielder smashed two home runs and both were certainly no doubters. The Padres stormed out to an early 5-0 lead but the Tigers did not quit. They came right back by scoring four unanswered runs to make things interesting. Zach McKinstry also hit two homers to give the Tigers a chance. Josh Hader earned the save and now the Friars aim to win the series tonight. They are (47-51) on the season and are 5.5 games back from a Wild Card spot.
The Tigers are (44-53) on the season and remain in 3rd place in the AL Central Division. They are only six games back of a division lead, so if they fight back to win this series then they could be in a position to battle the rest of the way through. However, if the Padres take this series and maybe even sweep the Tigers, then that would pretty much be a wrap for Detroit barring a miracle.
Here are the Padres-Tigers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Tigers Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+118)
Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (-142)
Over: 10 (-106)
Under: 10 (-114)
How To Watch Padres vs. Tigers
TV: Bally Sports Detroit
Stream: MLB TV, MLB Extra Innings
Time: 6:10 ET/3:10 PT
Article Continues Below
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
With Michael Wacha yet to return to the team, he will skip yet another start. The Padres are calling up left-handed rookie Jackson Wolf to start tonight's game. Wolf is the Padres' No. 16 prospect who skipped Triple-A altogether as he is coming from Double-A San Antonio. On the season, he is (8-8) with a 3.39 ERA in 85.0 innings. He also has 104 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.99. Wolf has 270 K's in 49 career games and could see a lot of success against the struggling Tigers. It's unclear how long his leash will be, but if Wolf is able to give the Padres five solid innings then that would be huge for a bullpen that is struggling. The good news is that Robert Suarez returned last night and threw a scoreless inning. The bullpen desperately needs him to get back to his dominant self.
Outside of Juan Soto and Manny Machado, the Padres offense is struggling to score runs. Those two have five of the seven runs scored in the last three games. SD must try and string together hits in one inning to really put pressure on the Tigers' pitchers. The issue is this squad is always trying to hit the long ball, which can really hurt you in this ballpark. Soto managed to smash two last night but the odds of him repeating aren't high. It's going to take the likes of Jake Cronenworth, Ha-Seong Kim, and Xander Bogaerts to really give them the edge tonight.
Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread
Starting for the Tigers will be right-hander Matt Manning. Manning is (3-1) on the campaign with a 3.38 ERA in 34.2 innings. He also has a WHIP of 0.98 almost identical to his counterpart, Wolf. At home this year, Manning has yet to allow a run. It's only been 6.2 innings, however, it was against a very good Toronto Blue Jays offense. The Tigers have won his last three starts and is coming off a great game against the Kansas City Royals as well. He allowed just four hits and one run in 5.2 innings. Another performance like that and the Tigers should cover this spread.
The offense had a tough time facing Seth Lugo last night but did damage to Nick Martinez. Riley Greene sent a two-run shot in the 7th inning to bring the Tigers within one run. The Padres bullpen has been the worst in the month of July as really any hitter is capable of producing. If the Tigers can find a way to keep it close, they should have the advantage considering they are facing a pitcher making his debut. If they get to Wolf early, then they will be in a great spot.
Final Padres-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The Padres are the better team and should win this game to take the series. The Padres are jut (33-40) as the favorite while the Tigers are (43-36) as the underdog. I like the Tigers to keep this within one run again so take them to cover this spread, along with the over.
Final Padres-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Tigers +1.5 (-142); Over 10 (-106)
