Game: San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants
Time: 9:45 PM ET
Starting Pitchers: Yu Darvish vs. Dominic Leone
Odds: Padres -104, Giants -105
Coming off a weekend series with the Dodgers, the Padres face another tough task – the San Francisco Giants. San Diego dropped three straight to Los Angeles and, as a result, dropped into a tie for the National League’s second wild card. This four-game series with the Giants could make or break the Padres’ postseason hopes.
So far this season, the Giants own a 5-4 advantage in the season series winning two out of three in the last series between the two teams which was back in May. The Padres would love to recapture what they were doing in May. More recently, San Diego’s lineup has not been producing like it used to. In the three losses to the Dodgers over the weekend, the Padres managed just four runs. If that continues, San Diego will have a difficult time making the postseason.
Yu Darvish gets the start for the Padres. After starting the 2021 season on fire, Darvish has cooled off and been extremely inconsistent. After an early-season run of eight straight wins in games started by Darvish, the Padres have won just two of his last eight starts. Darvish is now 8-9 on the season with a 3.95 ERA. He did beat the Angels in his last start going six innings, allowing three hits, and just one run in an 8-5 Padres win.
Darvish will face one of the best lineups in baseball. Unlike the Padres, San Francisco has had little problem scoring runs. In their weekend sweep of the Cubs, the Giants plated 27 runs. San Francisco has won seven straight and nine of their last ten games. The Giants have scored double-digit runs in three of their last six games. They rank among the leaders in almost every offensive statistical category.
Darvish has faced San Francisco twice, but both games were early in the season. San Diego won both of those games by scores of 3-1 and 3-2. Darvish pitched at least six innings in both games and allowed one earned run in each. Remember, he hasn’t been the same pitcher since and the Giants are on a tear.
Making matters worse for San Diego is the loss of Jake Cronenworth who suffered a fractured finger on Saturday. The Padres are also missing eight relief pitchers with injuries. San Diego has won just eight of its previous 24 games and only four of fifteen on the road. On the other side, San Francisco is 39-18 in its last 57 games.
Only one of the Giants last seven wins has come by a single run. The Giants will start Domenic Leone who has just two starts this season. Leone has not allowed an earned run in those starts, but he likely will not pitch more than three innings. His ERA for the season is 1.90. San Francisco won both of his previous starts. A rested bullpen will help San Francisco.
It’s not surprising with the Giants recent offensive outburst that the Over has hit in five of the last seven games. The Over has cashed in seven of the last eight Padres-Giants games.