Last night, the San Diego Padres (67-52) secured a 4-1 win on the road over a division rival, pushing the San Francisco Giants (59-60) further down the NL West standings. Tonight, they battle once more at Oracle Park in the MLB’s late slate.
Here’s a Giants vs. Padres prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s nightcap.
Giants vs. Padres prediction, preview
The Giants continued to roll over with last night’s loss and fell to 7-15 since the All-Star Game and 5-5 in their last 10 contests. As feels typical in recent weeks, the bats struggled to score with just five hits and a single run in Monday’s loss as their tally increased to just 90 runs in 22 games, which ranks 25th among all teams. With a .711 OPS that falls 19th but the 12th-best average over that span at .247, San Francisco’s bats are inconsistent at best — when they’re on, they can put up plenty of run support, but those high-scoring occasions seem somewhat few and far between lately.
The Padres only put up four runs last night but improved to 15-8 since the ASG and 7-3 across their last 10. With 110 runs in their 23 games since the break, San Diego still sits inside the top-10 in scoring with a .747 OPS, also 10th-best in baseball. While still lacking in the power department with just 17 homers since the ASG, the second-fewest of any team, the Padres don’t necessarily need the long ball to win. They’re reaching base at the third-best rate and have a .271 team average while displaying impressive plate discipline with plenty of walks and few strikeouts. After tallying 10 hits last night, they’ll hope to keep the momentum up.
This pitching matchup brings some intrigue as All-Star lefty Robbie Ray (2.85 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 148 SO) suits up for the Giants. He battled the Padres’ recent acquisition Nestor Cortes (7.11 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 11 SO) who threw just two starts for the Brewers to begin the season before suffering an injury which sidelined him until last week. After a trade sent him to San Diego, Cortes tossed 4.2 innings with three hits allowed, two earned runs and three strikeouts.
Giants vs. Padres pick, best bet
The odds on DraftKings Sportsbook are close for this contest — the Giants are -120 favorites on the Moneyline, but the Padres sit just a short distance behind at -102. The run total is set at 7.5.
While I’m still fairly confident San Diego wins this game, it’s tough to ignore the shaky form Cortes brings into this matchup. It’s hard to blame the guy given that he hadn’t pitched in several months, but he did struggle with his control and walked three batters in his return to the mound, also hitting two. Cortes probably won’t throw deep into this game, but there’s plenty of time for him to walk at least a couple of batters if he continues to reacclimate to the bump. Bettors can grab over 1.5 walks at -150 or 3+ walks at +210. For the sake of value, the latter pick looks nicer to me.
Best bet: Nestor Cortes 3+ walks allowed (+210)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
