San Diego Padres (70-59) vs. San Francisco Giants (61-65)
It is a battle in the National League West when the San Diego Padres take on the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. These clubs squared off on Monday, but this preview was written prior to the conclusion of that contest. Entering the three-game series, San Diego was hanging onto the final wild-card spot in the National League, 7.5 games ahead of San Francisco. Both teams are all but eliminated from contention for the NL West crown.
These clubs have squared off 13 times this season, with San Diego winning eight of the 13 meetings. They have split the first six meetings in San Francisco. The Padres enter as the favorite at -120 with the odds set for the Giants at +100. The total is set at 7.5 (over: -105, under: -115).
The teams chasing San Diego for the final wild-card spot have been struggling of late, with Milwaukee 5-5 in their last 10 games entering Monday’s matchup while San Francisco is 2-8. However, San Diego has not been able to put greater distance between themselves and these clubs, going 5-5 in their last 10 as they did take two of three from Kansas City over the weekend, but lost both games to Cleveland in the middle of last week. This came after splitting four games against Washington and losing two out of three against Miami, making San Diego 5-6 in their last 11.
Manny's mashin' in the Midwest ?? #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/IoevSz30MA
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 28, 2022
it has been an inconsistent offense hurting this club, as they have scored 46 runs in their last 12 games, but 23 of those came in two contests. That means they have scored 23 runs in the other nine games, shutout twice in that span. The Padres are 15th in runs per game (4.47) and are averaging 4.65 runs per game through the first 26 contests of August. However, this team is not hitting of late.
That puts pressure on left-hander Blake Snell who is 5-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 17 starts. The strikeout numbers have been amazing for Snell, who has fanned 116 batters in 87.0 innings pitched and he was pitching well through his first four starts of August, allowing five total earned runs in 22.2 innings pitched. However, he was rocked for six runs in 3.1 innings in his last outing.