The San Francisco Giants (70-64) and San Diego Padres (62-73) will continue their four-game weekend series on Friday. First pitch for this NL West rivalry showdown is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET at Petco Park in San Diego. Rookie Tristan Beck (3-2, 3.52 ERA) will step on the mound in what could be another early bullpen night for the Giants while Michael Wacha (10-2, 2.84 ERA) will start for the Friars.
San Francisco cruised to a 7-2 over San Diego in last night’s series opener, a victory that put the team up a game on the Diamondbacks for third in the NL Wild Card standings. The Giants did most of their damage in the top of the third as they scored six runs and sent 10 batters to the plate. Mike Yastrzemski tacked on an additional solo home run in the fifth for good measure.
The Padres enter the game as a -135 favorite on the moneyline over at DraftKings Sportsbook, making the Giants +114 underdogs. The total is set at 8.
Giants-Padres picks: Friday, September 1st
Injury report
Giants
Day-To-Day: SP Carson Whisenhunt (elbow)
Out: SS Brandon Crawford (forearm), OF Michael Conforto (hamstring), SP Ross Stripling (back), SP Antony DeSclafani (elbow), RP John Brebbia (hand), OF AJ Pollock (oblique)
Padres
Out: SP Yu Darvish (elbow), SP Joe Musgrove (shoulder), SP Drew Pomeranz (elbow), 1B Jake Cronenworth (wrist), RP Alek Jacob (elbow), RP Drew Carlton (elbow), RP Tim Hill (finger), RP Adrian Morejon (knee), 1B Ji-Man Choi (rib)
Starting pitchers
Tristan Beck vs. Michael Wacha
Beck was a bit shaky at the end of his start against the Braves last Sunday, but Giants batters eventually came through to end the series with an 8-5 victory. He posted four perfect innings to begin the contest before giving up three straight hits and a few runs in the top of the fifth. That prompted Gabe Kapler to turn his bullpen, ending Beck’s day after just 4.1 innings. The three earned runs that he was charged with are the only ones he has given up in his last four outings, so he’ll look to put together another solid start.
Wacha has mostly been lights out for the Padres all season long, but ran into some trouble against the Brewers last Sunday. Through 5.1 innings, he yielded four earned runs off four hits and five walks in what eventually turned into a 10-6 loss for the team. That was his highest walk total of the season, so we’ll see if he can come back to reality and keep runners off base this evening.
Over/Under pick
Both of these pitchers are looking to bounce back after mediocre outings last week and I think they can pull that off. Beck and Wacha should be able to deliver a solid 4-5 innings for their respective teams and that will play a major impact for the final total of this contest. I’ll predict the under barely cashes in a ballgame that ends somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-2.
Pick: Under 8
Moneyline pick
San Diego doesn’t have much going for it right now except for its ace Wacha pitching well and I do think he can notch another quality start. That should give this hot and cold lineup the cover it needs to produce runs and I’ll predict that the Padres get on the board for this series with a win.
Pick: Padres