The San Diego Padres (64-51) take on the Boston Red Sox (64-52) in a battle between two playoff-caliber squads at beautiful Petco Park this evening. With plenty of exciting bats on both sides as well as some top-tier pitchers on the mound over the next couple of days, this inter-league series looks like a fun one.
Here’s a Padres vs. Red Sox prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Friday’s series opener.
Padres vs. Red Sox prediction, preview
There’s a reason baseball fans and sports bettors should feel hyped for this series — these competitors are clearly some of the MLB’s hottest teams since the All-Star Game. Since that point, San Diego holds the fourth-best record at 12-7 with Boston right on their tail at 11-7. In terms of win percentage, those marks rank fourth and fifth-best in baseball. Plus, each are 8-2 across their last 10 games.
Both offenses fall in the top half of the MLB in scoring with 93 runs for the Padres, or 4.89 per game, and 86 for the Red Sox, an average of 4.78 each night. However, tonight’s home team has seen more overall success at the plate with a .758 OPS with a .340 OBP while the visitors have a .721 OPS and .306 OBP. Neither side has hit a ton of homers as both teams fall bottom-10 in the stat since the ASG, but that ability to get on base may make a significant difference tonight for the Padres.
A couple of right-handers duel on the mound tonight in a bit of a lopsided matchup. Nick Pivetta (2.73 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 136 SO) sees the start for San Diego against Boston’s Walker Buehler (5.74 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 71 SO). The difference in starter quality looks like it can play a significant factor this evening.
Padres vs. Red Sox pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Padres as -176 favorites on the Moneyline while the Red Sox come in at +144 to win outright. The run total sits at an even eight between these two teams.
With such a lopsided matchup on the mound, it’s hard to ignore the upper hand the Padres hold entering this game. Pivetta looks absolutely fantastic lately with a 1.01 ERA and 0.67 WHIP across his last seven starts as he plays some of the best baseball of his career. Plus, the revenge-game narrative feels set as the 32-year-old faces off against his former team. As for Buehler, he’s in the midst of a career-worst campaign and can’t be trusted on any given night to hold a lead.
Over the last week, the Padres rank seventh in OPS with an .802 mark. Why’s that? They added a handful of talent at the Trade Deadline in Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hean, the former of whom hits .346 through his first few games with San Diego while the latter has struggled a smidge but hit his first homer with the team on Wednesday. They bring much-needed firepower to an offense which is seemingly finding its stride — with a positive matchup and momentum on their side, I like Padres -1.5 this evening.
Best bet: SD Padres -1.5 (+122)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
