San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Preview
Two NL West teams heading in different directions will clash Wednesday night as the San Diego Padres (78-79) take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (101-56). Los Angeles will host this one at Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled for 10:10 pm ET.
After 50 games, the Padres had one of the best records in all of baseball. Now, with under a week left, they now find themselves under .500. In what has been an epic collapse, the Padres are out of the playoff picture and fighting for self-respect as the season winds down.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, are preparing for the postseason while hoping to catch the Giants in the division. Currently two games back, Los Angeles will look to pick up another win Wednesday.
This will be the second of a three-game series between the two. The Dodgers won Tuesday night 2-1 behind seven shutout innings from Walker Buehler.
The Dodgers are the favorites playing at home Tuesday. They are -275 to win while the Padres’ moneyline sits at +225. The runline features San Diego +1.5 (+110), and the over/under for total runs is eight.
Pitching Matchup
The Padres will send 21-year-old lefty Ryan Weathers to the mound on Wednesday. On the season, Weathers is 4-7 with a 5.01 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and he has struck out 70 in 91.2 innings pitched.
The Dodgers will counter with the current NL Cy Young favorite (-160) Max Scherzer. On the season, Scherzer is 15-4 with a 2.28 ERA. In his last seven starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA and 0.64 WHIP.
By The Numbers
The Dodgers have been one of the best teams in baseball this season, offensively. They currently rank fifth in scoring averaging 5.02 runs per game. The Padres rank 14th averaging 4.54 runs per game.
Defensively, it is again the Dodgers with the advantage. They rank atop the majors in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 3.44 runs per game. The Padres rank 13th allowing 4.30 runs per game.
Tatis MVP Race May Be Only Excitement Left For Padres’ Fans
It has been a heartbreaking season for Padres fans as expectations were high as ever that the club could make a postseason run. Instead, their season will be finishing at the end of the week.
While the postseason is out the window, there is some hope that Fernando Tatis Jr. can still win the NL MVP award this season. He currently has the third-best odds of winning at +550.
On the season, he is hitting .283/.367/.613 with 41 home runs, 95 runs batted in, 98 runs scored, and 25 stolen bases.
One player to keep an eye on Wednesday is first baseman Eric Hosmer. In 12 at-bats against Scherzer, Hosmer is hitting .417 with two home runs and four runs batted in.
Dodgers Hope To Catch San Francisco
At 101-56, the Dodgers have the second-best record in all of baseball. Unfortunately, the best record also resides in their division in the San Francisco Giants.
Down two games with just a handful to play, the Dodgers hope to keep the pressure on the Giants as they try to catch them for the division lead.
Leading the way offensively for Los Angeles is first baseman Max Muncy. He is currently hitting .246/.365/.524 and leads the team in home runs (35), runs batted in (90), and runs scored (91).
In limited at-bats, no one from the Dodgers has really had success against Ryan Weathers. In fact, the only player with a hit off the lefty in their career is Gavin Lux.
Take The Dodgers To Win
Max Scherzer was already an ace, but the move to the Dodgers has propelled him even further. He has been flat-out dominant with Los Angeles and will be a handful for a struggling Padres team.
Expect Los Angeles to not only win this game but do not be surprised if they cover the 1.5 runs on the runline.
Take L.A. to win.