San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions, Odds & Picks

• Padres trying to get back on track
• Kershaw keeps on rolling
• Padres got the win Thursday, but the offense still needs improvement

San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers Odds

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Padres vs Dodgers Predictions and Picks

The Dodgers offense is the best in baseball. The Padres are struggling through their last 10 games. However with Yu Darvish on the mound for San Diego, that levels the playing field for a team in the midst of its worst 10-game stretch since 2019. It’s hard to know who is going to win this one — both offenses can get hot in an instant — but with more juice on the Padres, we are going to take the San Diego money line. Also, we love the under.

Picks:

San Diego Padres to win (+128)

Garcia’s 2021 record: (11-5)

How to Watch San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Can Padres Turn the Season Around?

This hasn’t been the start San Diego fans expected. After acquiring two of the best pitchers in the game this offseason, the Padres were expected to compete with division rival and the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Early on, that was happening. San Diego started white-hot, going 8-3 out of the gate. Prior to Thursday night’s game, they’ve stumbled greatly, going 2-7 in their past nine contests and find themselves in third place in the NL West, closer to the bottom of the division than the top.

But the good news for Friday’s game is they have their ace on the mound in Yu Darvish who has been as good as advertised in the early going this season. The 2020 NL Cy Young runner-up is 1-1 through four starts, with a 2.55 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 24 innings.

The Padres are 3-1 in his starts and in each of his last three games he’s been lights out. Darvish over the past two weeks has given up just three runs on seven hits over 20 (!) innings. His strikeout to walk ratio in that time is 5:1 (20 punchouts and just four walks).

Even though Los Angeles’ offense is great, Darvish held them at bay last week — throwing seven innings of one-hit ball. However, he gave up one earned run and ultimately picked up the loss as San Diego got shut out.

Nothing Can Slow Clayton Kershaw

There are a few people who seem to defy father time longer than others.

IN baseball, Clayton Kershaw is on that shortlist. He’s only 33 years old, but in his 14th season in the major leagues, the best lefty of this generation has logged more than 2,350 innings pitched. Yet if you watched his last three starts and knew nothing else, you’d think he’s still in his prime. A scary thought for everyone outside of Hollywood … he might be.

So far this season, Kershaw is 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA, 0.973 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. But he’s been even better than that as of late. Here are his splits.

Game 1: 5.2 innings, 5 earned runs, 10 hits given up, one walk, two strikeouts, and a loss.

Games 2-4: 19 innings, 1 earned run, 11 hits given up, two walks, 22 strikeouts, and three wins.

He’s been incredible, including when he picked up the win against Darvish last week. He’s back on the bump and rolling, which is why we like this to be very low scoring.

Hosmer Needs Some Help

The Padres have two of the best right-handed hitters in the game, yet it’s their power-hitting lefty who is keeping this lineup afloat right now.

Hosmer leads the team in a number of categories including batting average (.311), home runs (3), RBIs (14) and hits (23). Wil Meyers has also had a nice year, with three home runs and 11 RBI but has been ice cold the past week, going 3-of-19 in his last eight games going into Thursday night.

The Rookie of the Year Runner-up is also in a slump, as Jake Cronenworth is just 4-of-30 the past week-plus going into Thursday night.

That’s not to mention Manny Machado or Fernando Tatis Jr. Machado is hitting just .261 but does have a .388 OBP, but Tatis Jr. — who has battled injuries early on — is hitting just .154 on the year, going 6-of-39 to begin his campaign with 15 strikeouts.

It’s only a matter of time before this offense starts rolling again, but it’s hard to see that happening on Friday.