Play On The Mexico City Series Opener Tonight

Giants vs. Padres, 6:11 ET

I text one of my friends and mentors in this gambling business today when I first went to look at this game because I assumed there was some sort of error out there. I had to check multiple sites when I saw this line on the book. They were the same across the board: over/under 15.5 for the game. I'd never seen a line that high, so how are we playing it?

This is the Mexico City Series which is why the total is so high to start, but it also has to do with the pitchers in the game. After starting the season on a really bad note and losing a ton of games, the Giants then started to turn it around and won five straight games before they dropped the last game against the Cardinals. They are hitting about average as a team and their pitching is at least keeping people off the bases with walks. Opponents are hitting .261 against them though. Sean Manaea is taking the ball for them and he has been used mostly as an opener for this season. He's giving up runs when he pitches in most games, but he hasn't been quite as brutal as the 6.61 ERA would indicate.

Padres and Giants face off in Mexico City. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)

Padres Underperforming So Far

The Padres have too much talent on their roster to be struggling this badly to start the year. They have their full lineup now and you'd expect them to turn it on. As a team, they are hitting just .215 and haven't even scored 100 runs through 27 games. Their pitching hasn't been that great either and if you're going to slack in one area, you can usually manage, but not both hitting and pitching. The good news for them is that they should be able to fix the hitting issues. The pitching might not ever get that good again. Joe Musgrove is back for the Padres and he had a great season last year - one that was very profitable for us in his starts. He had one start and went five innings and allowed three earned runs.

I think you can probably expect what I'm playing in this game. I'm taking the under 15.5. My friend that I text told me the altitude is crazy, and I looked into the stadium, so I get it. But this is also the first time that the hitters have the batter's eye in this one. I think that we will see runs, but 15 with Musgrove pitching and the way the Padres are hitting is too high, take the under.

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