The offseason moves the Padres made were supposed to have them playing meaningful games in the second half of the season. That hasn’t worked out and the roster could be blown up again as the trade deadline nears. The Marlins have been playing out the string for some time as the two disappointing squads meet in the third of a four-game set.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Marlins won their season-high third straight road game with Thursday’s 4-0 series-opening win in San Diego, getting their second shutout victory in the streak. The Marlins’ run comes right after the club lost eight in a row on the road. Miami remains a poor road bet with a 17-32 record away from Marlins Park where they’re down 12.63 units on the moneyline. Following a season-best five-game win streak the Padres have shut down losing the next three, leveling their record at 3-3 on their current homestand. San Diego has scored a total of 13 runs in the last seven games started by Ian Kennedy and the under is 7-0 in that span and 10-4-1 in San Diego’s last 15 games overall.
PITCHING MATCHUP
David Phelps (4-6, 3.91 ERA) gave up three runs on seven hits and four walks in 5.2 innings taking the loss at Arizona in his last start. After two scoreless relief outings covering 4.1 innings, Phelps was inserted back into the rotation tossing six innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati on July 10. He’s 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA over his last three starts.
Phelps will be facing San Diego for the first time.
Ian Kennedy (5-9, 4.78 ERA) earned a win Monday against the Giants pitching six innings while allowing two runs and striking out six in his best effort in a month. He has a 2.98 ERA over his last 51.1 innings over nine starts and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a start since May 28. He’s been plagued by the long ball all season, surrendering at least one in each of his last seven starts and 21 total.
Kennedy is 3-1 with a 3.11 ERA in six lifetime starts against the Marlins and fanned 12 over seven innings in his last start against them on May 8, 2014.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“They feel the pressure to say in the race, they feel the pressure to hang on. We have a lot of guys who are not playing their best baseball right now.” – San Diego interim manager Pat Murphy on his team’s struggles.
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that’s the case with the Padres. After undergoing a complete makeover in the offseason to improve a historically bad offense, San Diego’s numbers this season are remarkably similar to those of 2014. After totaling three hits in a 4-0 loss in Thursday’s opener to the Marlins, the Padres team batting average through 96 games sits at .236, only .003 better than the New York Mets. Their on-base percentage is an insanely low .294, compared to last year’s .292, and their slugging percentage of .368 is only slightly better than the .342 they amassed last season. Thursday’s shutout loss was San Diego’s 14th this season, the most in the majors, after being blanked 19 times in 2014. The Padres’ record fell to 44-52, just three games better than the 41-55 mark through 96 games last season. There are still 66 games left to improve on those numbers, but in all likelihood they go the other direction.
PROP TALK
Christian Yelich was hitting .217 as recently as June 9, but he’s turned it on since then, lifting his average to .271 after going 2 for 3 with a run scored in Thursday’s series opener. Yelich, who hit .284 last season, is batting .349 during the month of July and .382 with 13 hits in 34 at-bats in his last nine games. In a small sample size, Yelich hits .333 against Kennedy with a double and triple accounting for his two hits and has eight hits in 24 at-bats, including a home run, against San Diego pitching in his career.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Padres haven’t lived up to the preseason hype and all the moves rookie GM A.J. Preller made have backfired. The team’s offense was supposed to cover for the defensive liabilities in the outfield and the lack of a true shortstop. Well, the big sticks have been a big flop and the shortcomings of this club have been magnified. It’s gotten so bad for San Diego even their once stingy bullpen hasn’t been immune. Miami’s David Phelps is an average pitcher but San Diego has a way of making mediocre hurlers look great.
Miami 4, San Diego 3
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Miami Marlins versus the San Diego Padres will commence Saturday, July 25, 2015, at 8:40 p.m. ET at PETCO Park. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
