The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers have traded blows, splitting the first two games of this penultimate regular-season series and making tonight’s game a rubber match. It’s worth mentioning, the Padres’ 5-1 victory on Wednesday ended a five-game winning streak for the defending champs, who have been rounding into form ahead of their official title-defense run.
The Dodgers have locked up yet another division title, but this game is significant to two of their divisional foes behind them, as well as the Cubs and Phillies. Currently, the Padres sit one game clear at the top of the NL Wild Card, but the Cubs and Phillies are tied right behind them, and the Diamondbacks are clinging to hope, three games behind them.
We’re expecting a matchup that pits San Diego’s Nick Pivetta against LA’s Tyler Glasnow, in what amounts to be a battle of savvy veterans. Pivetta has had elbow issues this year, but he returned at the beginning of September and limited the Nationals, Giants and Marlins to just three earned runs on 11 hits and one walk in 14 innings. It goes without saying, but the Dodgers are in a completely different galaxy offensively from those teams, so I would take his form with a grain of salt. Glasnow, like Pivetta, spent time on the IL this summer as well. Unfortunately, his September hasn’t been as smooth as his counterparts despite coincidentally pitching against the same trio of teams. For reference, Glasnow carries a 5.63 September ERA thanks to 10 earned runs allowed in 16 September innings.
At odds hovering around +150, the price, in combination with the contrasting form of the pitchers and the differing playoff scenarios, make me very interested in the Padres.
Padres vs Dodgers prediction: San Diego Padres ML (+150) at the time of publishing. Playable to +130.
