First Five Play As Padres Look To Avoid Sweep

Padres vs. Giants, 3:45 ET

It was bound to happen. We knew at some point there was going to be a tough loss day, and yesterday was that day. We lost one game due in extra innings, and the other one was no actioned because of a late scratch from the Dodgers on the starter Michael Grove. The Angels lost that game, so I was wrong about the outcome, but that's why you always play based on starters. Today we focus in on two starters, Blake Snell of the Padres and Alex Wood of the Giants.

The Padres are desperate for a win. They were within a game of .500 and then they had to face the Giants in this four-game set and have lost the first three games. The Padres should be able to handle this Giants in my opinion. The problem is the Padres seem to be allergic to hitting as a team. It isn't like their superstars are all having that bad of a season, but for whatever reason it seems like only one of them has a good game on any given day and the rest do nothing. Today they get Blake Snell pitching for them. We took a win home in his most recent start against the Rays. Now he faces the Giants in an attempt to stop the bleeding and even up the season series at 3-3. He has been outstanding in the month of June with 19 innings pitched and just one solo home run allowed. The Giants have collectively struggled against Snell as he has held them to just nine hits over 63 at-bats.

The Giants are still making progress this year even though I'm not sure that they can keep it going and steal the division. At the beginning of the year, I was penciling in two teams from this division for the playoffs, the Dodgers and the Padres. I don't think it is a stretch to think that the division will still produce two playoff teams. The Giants are on quite a winning streak right now too. I've talked about this being a bit of a roller coaster year, right now they are on the way up with 10 straight wins. Overall they are 14-4 over the 18 games in June. Today they have Alex Wood pitching for them. Wood has been a bit of a roller coaster pitcher himself. His most recent start saw him throw five innings and allowed just three hits. April was a solid month, May was a bit of a disaster, and now June has started solid after his return from the injured list. He has held Padres hitters to just 18 hits over 81 at-bats against him.

I really like the under in this game through five innings. I even like the under for the game as well. Snell has been so good, it would be a bit surprising to see him allow more than a run or two. Wood has also been very solid against the Padres over his experience so I think we have a good opportunity to keep the score low. I'll back the first five under 4.5.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024