Padres vs. Diamondbacks MLB Preview and Best Bet

The Padres and Diamondbacks meet in the second game of their midweek series after both teams had eventful weekends that succeeded.

San Diego Padres vs Arizona Diamondbacks

Wednesday, 28 April 2021, 9:40 PM EDT at Chase Field

The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks meet in the second game of their midweek series as the two teams battle for third place in the National League West. Both teams are coming off of successful weekend series’ that ended dramatically on Sunday. The Padres took three of four from the first-place Dodgers, staging a dramatic comeback from a six-run deficit on Sunday to win in 11 innings. San Diego is the first team this season to win after trailing by six or more.

The Diamondbacks won their weekend series with Atlanta thanks to a dominant doubleheader sweep on Sunday. Arizona pitchers shut out the Braves in both games, the first double shutout in 44 years. The D-Backs allowed just one hit in the doubleheader. When the Padres scored in the sixth inning of the opening game of the series on Tuesday, it snapped a string of 20 straight scoreless innings by Diamondbacks starters.

Ready to Make a Move

The Padres were expected to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West this season, as suggested by the MLB odds but needed to win the four-game series over the weekend to get over .500. That’s partially due to the schedule San Diego has played so far this year. The Padres played teams with winning records in 21 of their first 24 games, the second-most in the majors, behind Cincinnati’s 22. By comparison, Arizona had played teams that were over .500 just six times heading into the series with San Diego.The Padres have also played more games than anyone else in baseball, and Monday’s off-days was the team’s first break in the schedule since April 8.

“Everyone needs a day away,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “We faced top-of-rotation starters for 10 straight games against the Dodgers and Brewers.” The Padres’ offense is looking up. Wil Myers, who has battled knee soreness, returned to the lineup on Tuesday after missing Sunday’s game. And Fernando Tatis, who was on the injured list with a shoulder problem earlier this month, hit five home runs in the last three games against the Dodgers, with the blasts coming in a 14-at bat span.

Eric Hosmer has been a steady producer at the plate for the Padres this year, and Manny Machado is showing signs of heating up. The Padres will start rookie Ryan Weathers, who will be making his third career start. Weathers was moved from the bullpen to the rotation after the Padres staff suffered a rash of injuries. He’s allowed two hits and no runs in 9.1 innings as a starter—even more impressive considering both starts were against the Dodgers. Weathers is 1-0 with a save and a 0.59 ERA, striking out 16 in 15.1 innings.

On a Roll

The Diamondbacks returned home for the first time in two weeks and won six of the final seven games on their road trip. While Arizona’s pitching made headlines on Sunday, the hitting has been the reason the team has reached .500 for the first time since it was 13-13 last August 20. The D-backs scored five or more runs in six of the last seven games of the trip and topped five again in Tuesday’s homestand opener. After averaging 4.5 runs a game for the first 15 contests this season, Arizona has scored 6.9 a night over the last week.

The Diamondbacks will start Taylor Widener on Wednesday. Like San Diego’s Weathers, he moved into the rotation due to injury. He’s 1-0 with a 2.82 ERA in four starts. His win came against the Padres to start the season. He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five. Since then, he’s allowed 16 hits in 16.1 innings and has an ERA of 3.86. He allowed three home runs in 5.1 innings in his last start, against the Reds Widener’s numbers look better thanks to opponents hitting just .234 on balls in play, a statistic that tends to be based more on luck than any skill on the part of the player. Opponents have hit the ball hard, as the home runs last time out show, but they’ve just been caught in large numbers so far this year.

The Pick

It’s rare that a rookie still being stretched out into a starter has an advantage in a pitching matchup, but Weathers is the more reliable starter in this game. I like the Padres for my MLB picks. Widener’s success has been largely smoke and mirrors this year, and a Padres offense that is beginning to rake is well poised to expose him. Look for San Diego to roll.

MLB Pick: Padres -151 with BetOnline ( visit BetOnline Review)

Padres (-151)

Visit Site

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.

The post Padres vs. Diamondbacks MLB Preview and Best Bet appeared first on Picks.