With just four MLB games slated to start at 7:15 p.m. EST or later, some extra eyes should be on the San Diego Padres as they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks again tonight. The D-Backs took last night’s opening game of this series but the Friars won’t be held back for long as the sun sets in the desert.
Here’s a Diamondbacks vs. Padres prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s action.
Diamondbacks vs. Padres prediction, preview
Arizona Diamondbacks
The D-Backs are fighting tooth and nail to remain at or above the .500 mark. They’re now 35-34 after last night’s win, but after a hot start to the season, the team has slowed down overall due to a struggling pitching staff that can’t quite keep up with their many talented bats. With the fifth-most runs allowed plus bottom-10 marks in ERA and WHIP, the Diamondbacks’ arms don’t match the offense’s top-eight AVG, OPS, and runs scored. With ace Corbin Burnes and closer Justin Martinez both down and out due to Tommy John surgeries, the immediate future appears murky.
San Diego Padres
Meanwhile, the Padres are 38-30 as they look to maintain their lead over Arizona in the NL West standings. With just two games separating themselves and the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers, every single matchup counts for San Diego. Perhaps surprisingly, the Padres fall middle-to-bottom in rankings for several of the major offensive statistics (17th AVG, 23rd OPS, 22nd runs scored, 27th HRs), but they’ve struck out the third-fewest times of any team. Their pitching staff does fall top-12 in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts, though, so there’s a recipe for success here even if they’re underperforming at the plate.
Diamondbacks vs. Padres pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Diamondbacks as -172 favorites on the Moneyline this evening with +118 odds to cover the -1.5 run line. As for the Padres, they’re +140 to win on the Moneyline with -144 odds to cover at +1.5. The run total currently sits at 9.5.
Lefty Zac Gallen gets the starting nod for the D-Backs. While not quite performing up to his past standards with a 5.15 ERA and 1.33 WHIP, he’s still struck out 75 batters across 80.1 innings. If he can get his 4.03 BB/9 under control, that WHIP will look much better, especially since his 7.95 H/9 is perfectly fine.
Ryan Bergert starts for the Padres with just two starts and six total appearances to his name. However, he’s been great overall across his 14.1 innings with just a 1.26 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with eight strikeouts. He 5.0 and 5.1 innings in his two starts while allowing just seven hits, two earned runs, and six walks with six strikeouts across that overall sample. He’s pitching well, all things considered, but the Diamondbacks batting order remains fierce.
Personally, I quite like Manny Machado to record over 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs tonight at -165 odds and will also sprinkle 3+ H + R + RBIs at +125. He’s gone over that 1.5 line in seven of his last 10 games and tallied at least three of those combined categories five times across the same sample. Machado is red-hot in June with a .367/.396/.633 slash line plus 18 hits, eight runs, 14 RBIs, and four homers for good measure. Take him accordingly in a matchup against an inconsistent right-hander.
Best bet: Manny Machado over 1.5 H + R + RBIs (-165)
Slight lean: Machado 3+ H + R + RBIs (+125)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
