After playing three games in less than 27 hours, beginning with Sunday Night Baseball, the San Diego Padres head to Cincinnati on Monday to open a road series against the Reds.
San Diego Padres (-122, 9) vs. Cincinnati Reds
Joe Musgrove will look to get his rocky 2024 season back on track as he is making his first start since May 1 and has a 6.37 ERA with at least three runs allowed in five of his past seven starts.
While the Padres entered Game 2 of their doubleheader on Monday against the Atlanta Braves with the better season-long ERA, ranking 14th with a 3.84 ERA while the Reds rank 19th with a 4.18 ERA, a day of rest for the Reds’ bullpen gives them the more fresh unit in the back end.
Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott will look to put the bullpen in an advantageous spot when and if they are needed, entering Tuesday with a 3.06 ERA and two earned runs or fewer allowed in eight of his nine starts this season.
While the ERA for Abbott is good, he does enter with a 4.75 fielding independent with just 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.6 home runs per nine innings allowed but faces a Padres lineup that is having a difficult time hitting left-handed pitching.
The Padres entered Monday night batting .211 against left-handed pitchers, ranking 27th in the league while their .274 batting average against right-handed pitching is the best mark among the 30 MLB teams.
With Joe Musgrove still struggling and the Padres’ inability to hit against lefties, the Reds will open the series on Tuesday with a win.
The Play: Reds +102
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