Saturday evening features a battle between the San Diego Padres (4-4) and the Atlanta Braves (6-2) in the third game of a four-game series. The two teams have split the first two games coming into this one. The Braves will host this one at Truist Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:20 pm ET.
The Braves are the favorite in this one playing at home. They are -164 to win, while the Padres’ moneyline sits at +138. The runline features San Diego at +1.5 (-146), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Padres Trying To Win Back-To-Back
After dropping the first game of the series, the Padres bounced back with a 5-4 win on Friday. They will now look for back-to-back wins over the Braves as they take on Atlanta Saturday night.
In the 5-4 win, Brent Honeywell picked up the win in relief, firing two scoreless innings and striking out three.
Offensively, Nelson Cruz and Manny Machado combined for five hits, two runs scored, and two runs batted in.
On Saturday, the Padres will turn to veteran righty Michael Wacha to take the ball. He picked up the win in his first start against the Rockies despite giving up four earned runs in six innings of work.
There are a few hitters to keep an eye on in this one. Against the Braves Charlie Morton, Xander Bogaerts (.314 in 35 at bats, HR), Nelson Cruz (.323 in 31 at bats, HR, 3 RBI), and Juan Soto (.800 in five at bats, HR, 3 RBI) have all had significant success.
San Diego is looking to improve their offense as they rank 18th in the league, averaging just 4.43 runs per game.
Braves Trying To Extend Early Divisional Lead
At 6-2 overall, the Atlanta Braves already hold a two-game lead in the NL East. While it is far too early to focus on the standings, Atlanta will continue to try to build an early lead in what should be a very competitive division.
As veteran Charlie Morton takes the mound for Atlanta, they will hope for a better outing than they got Friday night. Jared Shuster had his second consecutive rough start as he gave up four runs on six hits and five walks over just 4.2 innings of work.
For Morton, he picked up the win in his only start of the season. In 5.1 innings against the Cardinals, he gave up three earned runs on nine hits and two walks.
Against Michael Wacha, Austin Riley is just two for four, but those two hits are both home runs. Marcell Ozuna and Travis d’Arnaud have also homered off of Wacha in their careers.
In the early going, Atlanta ranks ninth in the majors in scoring, averaging 5.57 runs per game.
Take The Braves To Win At Home
This one boils down to the pitching, and in that category, the Braves hold the edge. Especially playing at home and with a Padres’ offense that hasn’t completely clicked yet, expect Charlie Morton to put together a nice start.
To his credit, Michael Wacha is crafty enough to keep the Padres in this, but he has been a bit less consistent in his career than Morton.
Expect this one to stay relatively close throughout, but take the Braves to ultimately bounce back and pick up the home win (-164) Saturday night.
