For their second season series, the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates will get together in Southern California Friday night. Both crews had Thursday off.
The Padres (28-16) had a five-game winning streak halted by Milwaukee on Tuesday, then saw it turn into a two-game skid with a narrow loss that gave the Brewers the series win on Wednesday. San Diego sits two games back of the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
By winning two of three against visiting Colorado, Pittsburgh (18-25) continued what has been a bit of an unpredictable start to the campaign. They’ve put up a 4-6 mark over their last 10 outings.
Altogether, the Pirates haven’t had that great of a showing on offense. Only four teams have lower than their .225 average at the plate, and their 146 runs are the second-least in the major leagues.
Neither of Pittsburgh’s more notable names has had too much success as of late, as left fielder Bryan Reynolds is hitting .227 in 22 trips to the plate over the past week, and Ke’Bryan Hayes has a .192 average over that same span.
In his last five games, second baseman Josh VanMeter has totaled six hits, including a triple and a homer.
Pirates at Padres Odds
MLB odds have the Padres getting back in the win column. San Diego is -1.5 on the run line at +114, while the Pirates are -137 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the Padres are -205 and Pittsburgh a +172 underdog. The total has been set at seven runs, with the over being -118 and the under -104 at the time of this writing.
MLB betting trends show that San Diego can’t muster much production behind its two best hitters.
While third baseman Manny Machado and first baseman Eric Hosmer both have batting averages of .325 or better, no other Padres player is hitting over .239.
Machado’s .361 average is the second-best in the MLB. He also paces his team with eight dingers, 27 RBIs, and a .437 on-base percentage.
Because of the inconsistency behind him, the Padres are swinging the bats just a smidge better than Pittsburgh is, which is surprising considering San Diego’s keeping pace with the Dodgers.
Matchup Information
Pirates at Padres Betting Preview
The Pirates’ pitching is some of the worst in the big leagues. They have a 4.71 team ERA but will trot out southpaw Jose Quintana.
Quintana just had what could be considered his worst start of the season. He was tagged with a loss last Saturday as his group dropped a 5-4 decision to St. Louis. It took him 77 pitches to get through 3.2 innings, giving up seven knocks and five runs, two of which were earned.
Before the loss to the Cardinals, Pittsburgh had come out on top in three straight starts of his.
Sean Manaea will go for the Padres, carrying in a 4.04 ERA and a 2-3 record. He’s fanned 55 batters in eight starts. Two outings ago, he punched out a dozen Atlanta batters in seven innings. Unfortunately for him, that effort wound up being a no-decision.
Manaea has seen the Pirates’ lineup once before in 2022, holding it to five hits in 6.2 innings of work at the end of April. San Diego dropped that game in extras.
He’s gone 19 innings this month, allowing 18 hits.
Pirates at Padres Betting Predictions
The fact that the Pirates are fielding a capable hurler gives them a fighting chance against an underachieving order.
Quintana recently guided Pittsburgh to a win over the Dodgers, who are far better at hitting than the Padres are at this juncture, showing his ability to match up with talented challengers. This will show when he takes on San Diego.
As an underdog, take the Pirates as one of the surprising MLB picks today. They’ll find a way to steal the first of this three-game bill.
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