At 10:10 p.m. EST, the San Diego Padres (61-49) once again host the St. Louis Cardinals (55-56) after winning the first game of this series last night. With the new-look Padres riding a six-game winning streak and the Cardinals spiraling, this is a prime opportunity for San Diego to tack on another win and take the series in hand.
Here’s a Padres vs. Cardinals prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for game two of the series on Saturday night.
Padres vs. Cardinals prediction, preview
After last night’s contest, the Padres have now won six straight games and sit 9-5 since the All-Star Game, a huge difference compared to the Cardinals at 4-10 over the same span. That outing was a pretty easy victory for San Diego that finished with a 4-1 final score as Nick Pivetta threw a seven-inning gem for the home team. St. Louis’ offense has struggled plenty in recent weeks and tallied just four hits yesterday, but the Padres accumulated seven hits on the evening to spark the victory.
The usual contributors showed up for San Diego as Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts sparked the majority of the offensive production. While Ramon Laureano went 0-for-4 and Ryan O’Hearn went 0-for-1 in their debuts with the Padres, they’ll likely get more comfortable as time goes on with their new team. Mason Miller, also acquired at the Trade Deadline, allowed two hits but struck out a batter with a 100+ mph pitch in his one-inning relief appearance.
Tonight, Randy Vasquez (3.65 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 52 SO) gets the starting nod for the Padres against Michael McGreevy (4.91 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 19 SO). Neither of these pitchers boast particularly spectacular numbers, nor do either of them make batters whiff at a high rate. There could be plenty of opportunities for offensive fireworks in this one.
Padres vs. Cardinals pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Padres as -150 favorites on the Moneyline tonight while the Cardinals come in as +123 underdogs. The run total sits at 8.5.
Sometimes, simple is better — as things currently stand, Padres -1.5 looks like one of the top betting options on the table for this game. St. Louis lost four of their last five games and rank second-to-last with just 40 runs scored since the All-Star Game. On the flip side, San Diego’s 66 runs rank 13th in the MLB and their offense should improve as the new additions get acquainted with their surroundings.
This pitching matchup isn’t stellar and the Padres are winners of six straight as one of the hottest teams in baseball. There’s plenty to like about them this evening, especially with one of the MLB’s best home records at 35-18 when playing at Petco Park. I fully expect them to keep their hot streak going and add another notch to the win column while also covering -1.5 and these plus odds.
Best bet: SD Padres -1.5 (+140)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
