The Pittsburgh Pirates take on the San Diego Padres. Our MLB odds series has our Pirates Padres prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Pirates Padres.

The San Diego Padres are rapidly running out of time to make a push for a National League wild card spot. The one saving grace for the Padres is that nearly every other team involved in the wild card race is struggling to varying degrees. The San Francisco Giants have lost six straight. The Miami Marlins have won only one game since the All-Star break. The Arizona Diamondbacks have won only two games since the All-Star break. The Philadelphia Phillies have lost three of their last four. All of this is keeping the Padres in the hunt. However, San Diego has utterly failed to close the gap on a bunch of teams which are struggling.

The Friars have lost three of their last five games. They failed to sweep the lowly Detroit Tigers. Then they came home on Monday night and got hammered by the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-4. Yu Darvish still hasn't won three consecutive starts this entire season, which is just one of many reasons the Padres are still several games below .500 in late July. If they can't win the next few games against the Pirates — a team which is 10-26 in its last 36 games — the Padres have no good reason to be buyers at the trade deadline. They might have to sell one or two pieces and get more prospect depth. Maybe they could trade pitching for hitting and get and equal return to freshen up their lineup, but they're not in a position to trade their own prospects for a high-end piece. That's what a buyer does. The Padres can't really think of themselves as buyers unless they get on a five-game winning streak before August 1.

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

MLB Odds: Pirates-Padres Odds

Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (+114)

San Diego Padres: -1.5 (+137)

Over: 8.5 (+100)

Under: 8.5 (-122)

How To Watch Pirates vs. Padres

TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (Pirates) / Major League Baseball (Padres) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.tv

Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT

*Watch Pirates-Padres LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Pirates Could Cover The Spread

The Pirates hit several home runs against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels this past Friday. On Sunday, they scored five runs. On Monday, they scored eight and tagged Yu Darvish — a very good starting pitcher — for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. The Pirates' offense was dead for several weeks. It's part of why Pittsburgh lost 24 of 32 games in the second half of June and the first half of July. Now, we're seeing an offensive awakening. That's why the Pirates could legitimately win this game. They got eight runs last night in San Diego. They could certainly get four or five here. That would probably be enough to cover the spread if they can achieve that, given the Padres' offensive struggles in 2023.

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

The Pirates, despite their Monday night win in San Diego, are 10-26 in their last 36 games. They are not good. The memory of their shocking 20-8 start in the first 28 games of the season feels like three years ago, not three months ago. The Pirates are still playing hard, but they know the season is a lost cause. San Diego, on the other hand — after losing back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday — knows that it needs to find some urgency and create momentum before the trade deadline. Players on the Padres would like to stay in San Diego instead of being traded. The only way to do that is to win games. This is as close to a must-win as an MLB team can have on July 25. It might not technically be a must-win, but it's about as important as a late-July game can be.

Blake Snell goes to the mound for the Padres. He has been an excellent starting pitcher the past two months. He should be able to dominate the Pirates' batting order.

Final Pirates-Padres Prediction & Pick

The Padres urgently need to win. They're coming off a few bad losses. It is unlikely they will lose three in a row (and two in a row at home to Pittsburgh).

Final Pirates-Padres Prediction & Pick: Padres -1.5