One of the biggest divisional shifts in baseball can be seen taking place in the NL West. While 4 of the 5 teams there are in a slump, the Arizona Diamondbacks are rolling. The San Diego Padres have already lost third place to the D-Backs, and now the San Francisco Giants can feel them breathing down their neck. The Giants and Padres will try to get back on track when they meet in a 3-game series by the Bay. Game 2 of this series is set for Wednesday night and here’s a baseball betting preview if you are looking to cash in on the match.
San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants MLB Betting Preview
Time: Wednesday, 10:15 p.m. ET
Venue: AT&T Park, San Francisco
National TV: none
Opening line: Giants -134, Padres +124 (7.5)
Padres News: Kennedy Returning to Form? http://t.co/WC7oz5CDiy pic.twitter.com/RYAEsjd0dt
— East Village Times (@HomeGrownPadres) June 19, 2015
The defending champion Giants (38-33) have not had a particularly easy go of things this season, and have spent most of it trying to chase down the division leading Dodgers. They currently sit a game off the lead, and have a real opportunity to do a little leapfrogging, as LA is mired in a bit of a slum at the moment. Truth be told, the Giants might actually prefer this series to be on the road, as they are currently 1 game under .500 at home this season. They will be looking to get above that .500 mark in this series, with hopes that they can build from it moving forward. In order for that to happen, they are going to have to get their offense going, and need to see more from a struggling Angel Pagan, in particular. Ryan Vogelsong (5-5, 4.38 ERA) will take to the mound for the Giants on Wednesday. Vogelsong delivered a quality start in his last outing, breaking a 3-game losing streak in the process.
The Padres (34-38) got the month of June off to a winning start, but that run didn’t extend beyond the opening week. Production has dropped off considerably, with Justin Upton being the main culprit. Upton was excellent through the month of May, batting .343, but he is just .174 in June, and only a single HR to show for almost 70 at bats. It’s certainly not fair to lay all the blame at the feet of Upton, though, as there is plenty to go around. A team doesn’t go 3-7 in their last 10 games without everyone playing some sort of role in the misery. The Padres have now gone 4-straight winless series, with their best effort in that stretch being a split with the Braves. Ian Kennedy (4-5, 5.43 ERA) will start for the Padres on Wednesday. The Padres have won each of the last 4 games Kennedy has started.
Key Betting Trends
San Francisco is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
San Francisco is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 5 games at home
San Francisco is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Diego
San Francisco is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against San Diego
San Diego is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 19 of San Diego’s last 25 games
The total has gone OVER in 9 of San Diego’s last 13 games on the road
San Diego is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Francisco
San Diego is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
Consider This Before Placing Your Bets
The Giants won the series the last time they faced the Padres on home field. The lone loss in that series was a 9-1 shellacking in which Kennedy was on the mound for San Diego. He is in a pretty rich vein of form right now, which is why I think the Padres get the win in this one.
Sources
Yahoo.com (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6571/)
ESPN.com (http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28864/ian-kennedy)
