Tuesday night features a National League battle of East versus West as the Atlanta Braves (13-4) take on the San Diego Padres (8-10). The Padres will host this one at Petco Park with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.
The Braves are the slight favorites despite playing on the road. They are -142 to win, while the Padres’ moneyline sits at +120. The runline features San Diego +1.5 (-150), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5 (-120).
Braves Trying To Secure Series Win Tuesday
At 13-4, the Atlanta Braves have only lost one series all season and that was at home against the Padres. Trying to return the favor, the Braves will look to secure the series win on Tuesday after taking the first game of the series 2-0 on Monday.
In Monday’s win, Max Fried picked up the win after firing five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out four. Offensively, Austin Riley hit his fourth home run of the season, while Ronald Acuna Jr finished the night three for five.
On the bump for Tuesday’s game will be 24-year-old phenom Spencer Strider. In three games, he is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and he has 27 strikeouts in 16 innings. In his last start, a no-decision against the Reds, he allowed three earned runs over five innings while striking out nine.
Against the Padres Blake Snell, Acuna Jr, Marcell Ozuna, and Ehire Adrianza have all homered against the lefty. Kevin Pillar is also hitting .391 in 23 at bats.
The Braves blistering start to the season has propelled them to be the favorites to win the World Series currently at +600. They are -200 to win the NL East.
Padres Hoping For Consistency
Since taking three of four from the Braves in that earlier series, the Padres have really struggled as they have gone just 2-6 over their last eight games. Looking for more consistency, they will try to get back into the win column Tuesday night.
In particular, San Diego has struggled a bit offensively. They currently rank just 22nd in baseball in scoring, averaging 4.18 runs per game. Leading the offense has been shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who is hitting .362/.430/.580 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in.
One player they would really like to see get going is Juan Soto. He does have three home runs, but he is also hitting just .164/.346/.361 with 17 strikeouts in 61 at bats. He is just one for six against the Braves’ Strider in his career.
Taking the ball for this game will be lefty starter Blake Snell. He has had a bit of a rough start to the season as he is just 0-2 with a 6.92 ERA and 2.15 WHIP in three games. On the positive side, he has struck out 16 in 13 innings.
Despite their early season struggles, the Padres still have the second-best odds of winning the NL West at +125. They have the sixth-best odds of winning the World Series at +1200.
Take The Braves To Win
Despite playing on the road, the Braves have all the momentum in this one. Not only have they been playing exceptional baseball all season long, but Spencer Strider has clearly been more dominant to this point in the season than Blake Snell.
It is not to say that the Padres can’t run with Atlanta when things are going right, but currently, things just aren’t clicking for San Diego.
Take Atlanta to win this one straight up at -142.
