Friday night baseball and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, which will be played at Petco Park in San Diego. First pitch is scheduled for an 10:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Dodgers -121
Padres +111
Over/ Under: 6.5 U -115
This is game 1 of a 3 game series between these NL West rivals. The Dodgers come in off a rough 3 game trip to San Francisco, in which they were swept, scoring just 2 runs in each game. The Dodgers are now 9-6 on the year overall, but just 1-5 away from home. The Padres come in off a 7 game road trip in which the went 4-3, but they did lose their last 2. The Pads are now 10-7 overall, including 5-2 a home.
The Dodgers come in ranked 10th in scoring (4.60 rpg), 5th in hitting (.271) and 4th in homers (20), while on the mound they are 11th in ERA (3.48) and 9th in WHIP (1.19). The Dodgers have gone 41-17 in their last 58 vs. the National League West and 23-5 in Greinke's last 28 starts vs. the National League West, but just 1-6 in their last 7 road games.
The Padres have surprisingly been one of the best offensive teams in the league as they rank 6th in scoring (5.00 rpg), 4th in hitting (.279) and 9th in homers (16), while on the mound they are 5th in ERA (3.10) and 15th in WHIP (1.28). The Padres have gone 22-6 in their last 28 home games vs. a right-handed starter and 6-0 in Cashner's last 6 home starts vs. a team with a winning record, but just 1-4 in their last 5 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15.
Getting the ball tonight for the Dodgers tonight will be Zack Greinke, who is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 3 starts this year. Zack is 4-0 with a 1.80 in 8 career starts vs the Padres, including a 2-0 mark with a 1.74 ERA in 5 career starts at Petco. He faced the Padres once this year and got a no-decision, allowing just 1 ER in 6 innings of a 7-3 Dodgers loss.
Getting the ball for the Pads tonight will be Andrew Cashner, who is 1-2 this year, but with a nice 2.65 ERA. Andrew is just 12-10 in 47 games (25 starts) at Petco, but with a nice and tidy 2.01 ERA. He is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in his last 4 starts vs the Dodgers, with that loss coming this year in a game he allowed 5 ERs in 5 innings of work. Last year he allowed just 4 ERs in 19 innings in 3 starts vs the Dodgers last year.
Pick: I will be going with the Under in this game. Both offenses are improved over last year, but this is a game in Petco, where it is not easy to score runs. The Padres have scored 4.14 rpg at home this year, but they will be taking on Zack Greinke, who has great numbers in this park, posting a 1.74 ERA in 5 starts here. Cashner has been a very good pitcher in this park and has allowed 1 ER or less in 4 carer home starts vs the Dodgers, posting a 1.00 ERA in those 4 starts. He did get lit up at LA earlier in the year, but now the Dodgers are on the road, where they have averaged just 2.8 rpg and just scored a total of 6 runs in their 3 game set at San Francisco. This is an offense that is struggling right now and that should continue tonight. The Padres offense should struggle as well. The Under is 21-5 in the Padre's last 26 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600, plus 12-2 in the last 14 meetings in San Diego between these teams. Nice trends to have in our corner. Pitcher's duel in San Diego tonight.
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