At 9:40 p.m. EST, the San Diego Padres host the St. Louis Cardinals for their first game with a revamped lineup following yesterday’s MLB Trade Deadline. With a talented new bat manning left field and a fireballing arm in the bullpen, there’s plenty of hype surrounding the San Diego debut for a couple of prized acquisitions.
Here’s a Padres vs. Cardinals prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s game.
Padres vs. Cardinals prediction, preview
Friday night’s contest begins a three-game set out on the West Coast. This one certainly favors the Padres after they went all-in with Deadline moves for Ramon Laureano, Mason Miller and Ryan O’Hearn, the first two of whom make their first appearances with the team tonight. At 60-49 and 8-5 since the All-Star Game, San Diego holds the upper hand over a 55-55 Cardinals squad that’s gone just 4-9 over the same span.
The addition of Laureano should help out tonight as he brings a .290 batting average to a lineup which hasn’t quite performed up to par with expectations of what the offense should be. While O’Hearn isn’t in line to start tonight, he’s also a huge add that’ll pay off over the coming days. The Padres did give up a ton of value, but they’re clearly going all-in to bolster the batting order. For more good news, they’ve hit well as a team since the All-Star break with a .284 average, third-best in the MLB, as well as a .758 OPS which ranks seventh. Manny Machado is also on a tear, slashing .377/.441/.642 since the break with 15 RBI and three homers.
The Cardinals haven’t been as lucky though and seem like they’re doomed to collapse down the stretch of the season. They sold off a handful of pitchers including relievers Phil Maton and Steven Matz as well as closer Ryan Helsley. They got value back for all three expiring deals but remain 10 games back of the NL Central lead and have fallen all the way to fourth in the division after starting the year strong. They’re also batting just .233 with a .670 OPS since the All-Star Game, good for 24th and 25th in the MLB over that span.
Padres vs. Cardinals pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Padres as -207 favorites on the Moneyline tonight while the Cardinals come in as +168 underdogs. The run total sits at 7.5.
Things aren’t clicking lately for St. Louis and it doesn’t look like that may change in the immediate future. Nick Pivetta (2.81 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 131 SO) starts for San Diego tonight against lefty Matthew Liberatore (4.04 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 83 SO), so the Cardinals face a difficult matchup at the plate this evening.
Finding tonight’s top betting pick didn’t take long at all. Pivetta’s been dealing lately, and while his strikeout numbers haven’t popped too much, he’s still excelling at keeping opposing lineups in check. Over his last six starts dating back to June 26, the 32-year-old held opponents to one or fewer earned runs and three or fewer hits in five of those matchups. It’s a dominant run for Pivetta, who boasts a 10-3 record overall on the season.
With that in mind, I’m banking on the Padres righty to hold the Cardinals under 1.5 earned runs at plus value. He sees the benefit of a positive matchup and brings great form into it, so there’s plenty to like tonight.
Best bet: Nick Pivetta under 1.5 earned runs allowed (+120)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
