Arizona comes in as MLB Favorite Against San Diego

Written by on July 6, 2018

The Los Angeles Dodgers are rampaging right now and appear about to overtake the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. The Snakes need to beat bad teams like the Padres to stay in contention for the division title. They play the second of a four-game set in the desert on Friday with Arizona a solid MLB Betting favorite on the odds for Friday Night.

Padres vs Diamondbacks MLB Betting Preview & Prediction

  • When: Friday, 9:40 PM ET
  • Where: Chase Field, Phoenix
  • Probable Pitchers: Joey Lucchesi/Zack Godley
  • TV: MLB Extra Innings
  • Stream: MLB.tv
  • Radio: TuneIn
  • MLB Betting Odds: Arizona Diamondbacks -156 / San Diego Padres +146 (Over/Under at 8.5)

Recent Head to Head (Las 10 Games)

  • Runs: San Diego Padres 5.10 / Arizona Diamondbacks 4.70
  • Hits: San Diego Padres 8.20 / Arizona Diamondbacks 7.70
  • Walks: San Diego Padres 2.90 / Arizona Diamondbacks 3.80
  • Strikeouts: San Diego Padres 9.90 / Arizona Diamondbacks 8.50

Oakland at Cleveland MLB Odds & Betting Prediction

Why Bet on San Diego?

The Padres entered Thursday’s series opener on a three-game skid and have just three victories since June 16. They are clearly the worst team in the NL West and the only club with a losing record in it. The Friars have lost six consecutive series since June 14-17 at Atlanta after the club won five-straight series from May 28-June 13 (11-5). San Diego is hitting .236 with runners in scoring position since June 15, the fourth-lowest average in the majors over that time. In the 16 games that preceded this stretch from 5/29-6/14, they were 33-for-104 (.317), an average that led MLB. Hunter Renfroe has swung the bat well since returning from the disabled list in late May, hitting .287/.356/.489 in 94 at-bats. But Eric Hosmer is hitting .270/.344/.426, numbers dragged down by a recent slump in which he’s hitting just .203 in his past 19 games. Expect San Diego to be active ahead of the trade deadline, and lefty reliever Brad Hand would have plenty of value around the league. His 23 saves rank fifth in the majors and second in the NL. Since trading Brandon Maurer on July 24, 2017, Hand’s 41 saves in that time rank second in MLB, behind only Seattle’s Edwin Diaz. A total of 1.6 percent of Hand’s pitches this season have been sliders. A whopping 228 of his sliders have been thrown for strikes, the highest total among major league relievers this season. The Padres go with rookie lefty Joey Lucchesi (4-3, 3.26) here, a rare bright spot this year. Lucchesi allowed just one hit with four walks and five strikeouts over five scoreless innings in a win against the Pirates on Saturday. Lucchesi was dealing with first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 19 batters he faced, tossing strikes on 52 of his 85 pitches. It was his first victory in six starts dating back to April 28, and he is still searching for his first quality start since tying a season high with six innings back on April 15.

How to Bet Phillies vs Pirates MLB Lines & Expert Pick

Why Bet on Arizona?

The D-backs are 2-1 vs. Padres this season, 3-3 in their last 6 home games and 15-7 in 22 home games since 2016. Monitor the status of Arizona outfielder Jarrod Dyson. Dyson left Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals with discomfort in his right groin. A.J. Pollock took over for Dyson after he appeared to injure the groin while running the bases. Pollock just returned from a long DL stint earlier this week. In Wednesday’s loss to St. Louis, Diamondbacks reliever Yoshihisa Hirano’s 26-game scoreless streak ended with a homer allowed to Yairo Muñoz. That was the longest streak of consecutive scoreless outings in Arizona franchise history. Hirano’s streak was the second longest by a Japanese-born pitcher, behind only Koji Uehara’s 27-game run in 2013. Fellow reliever Archie Bradley has held opponents scoreless in 16 of his last 18 outings with a 0.56 ERA (1 ER in 16.0 IP), .145 opponent average (8-for-55) and 13 strikeouts. In 22 home outings, he has held opponents scoreless 19 times with a 1.59 ERA (4 ER in 22.2 IP), .177 average (14-for-79) and 19 strikeouts. Since May 23, Paul Goldschmidt leads the majors in average, slugging pct. and OPS (1.224), and is second in extra-base hits, third in on-base percentage, and tied for third in homers and RBI. Zack Godley (9-6, 5.07) is on the mound. Godley allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and five walks while striking out five across four innings to take the loss Sunday against the Giants. After appearing to get back on track with four consecutive respectable outings, things quickly went south for Godley. He didn’t allow a home run, but wasn’t able to face the minimum number of hitters in an inning once and struggled to locate his pitches. Godley’s 6.75 ERA since May 23, a span of eight starts, is the majors’ third-highest.

Latest MLB Betting Trends

  • Padres are 9-3 in their last 12 during game 2 of a series
  • Padres are 3-7 in their last 10 Friday games
  • Diamondbacks are 5-1 in their last 6 Friday games
  • Diamondbacks are 9-2 in their last 11 during game 2 of a series
  • San Diego is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games
  • San Diego is 4-13 SU in its last 17 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 15 of San Diego’s last 23 games
  • Arizona is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games
  • Arizona is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 4 of Arizona’s last 5 games

Expert Prediction

Hard to trust Godley much, but the Padres are awful. Go Arizona on the run-line.