Still considered the co-favorites to win the World Series alongside the New York Yankees, the (12-7) Los Angeles Dodgers will wrap up a four-game series against their NL West rival (11-8) San Diego Padres (9.40pm ET Thursday).
The series hasn’t been dominated by one side by any means. In fact, it’s actually the Padres who enter this finale with the opportunity to win the series. San Diego is 2-1 so far, with LA looking to split it with a win tonight. It’s a big opportunity for the Dodgers, who will look to keep their lead, however tentative, over the NL West.
USAbetting will now delve a little deeper into this matchup before concluding this preview with our San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers predictions and picks against the recommended online sports betting websites.
Game One Recap: SD 2 LAD 1
With their records almost identical, the Dodgers entered their second series of the year against the Padres, with just a one game lead in the NL West. LA sent Dustin May to the mound and overall he pitched well, allowing just two earned runs in six innings. It ended up that two runs was all that the Padres needed. After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Cody Bellinger, the Padres offense responded with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Overall, SD’s pitchers combined to hold the power-hitting Dodgers to just one run on four hits as the Padres took game one.
Game Two Recap: SD 6 LAD 2
Continuing to be one of MLB’s surprise success stories this year, the Padres picked up another win over the Dodgers in game two, tying the teams at the top of the NL West standings. Once again, the Dodgers struck first and once again, it wasn’t enough to get past San Diego’s offense. After a sacrifice fly tied the game in the top of the third inning, Manny Machado made his way to the plate with the bases loaded. He cleared them with a grand slam, his fifth home run of the season. The Padres added one more in the fifth inning.
Heading into the ninth with a 6-1 lead, the Padres pitching did give up one run but they managed to hold the Dodgers to just two in the game. There were three errors, two made by the Dodgers, but overall it was SD’s offense that took advantage and their pitching that once again came through.
Game Three Recap: LAD 6 SD 0
In the midst of their worst stretch this season, having lost three of their prior four games, the Dodgers needed to pick up the game three win to ensure they would get out of their series with at best a split. LA did just that as the bats finally woke up to bolster a great outing by starter Tony Gonsolin. Gonsolin led the Dodgers through 4.2 scoreless innings, a mark LA’s bullpen was able to sustain in the shutout victory. On offense, the Dodgers scored six runs, half of which came in the eighth inning off of Justin Turner’s only second home run of the year. Turner, along with much of the Dodgers’ offense has struggled but he will look to keep turning his season around following Wednesday’s strong showing from the plate.
Pitching Probables (LAD) Julio Urias vs (SD) Chris Paddack
Taking the mound for the Padres is righty, Chris Paddack, who is 2-1 on the year. Paddack, who won the last time he pitched against the Dodgers earlier this year, has an ERA of just 3.18 on the year, with 21 strike outs in just over 22 innings pitched while walking just three. Against Dodgers hitters with at least 10 plate appearances against him, Paddack has found success, holding Joc Pederson to just two hits in 12 plate appearances and Max Muncy to just three hits in 10. Turner, who has struggled this year, has only one hit in nine plate appearances against the smooth-throwing righty.
Opposing Paddack will be the lefty, Julio Urias, who has a crisp 2.40 ERA this year and a 1-0 record in three starts. While his numbers look good, Urias is still someone who the Dodgers are working with, as he has yet to show consistency from the starting rotation. He has pitched just 15 innings this year, with 13 hits and six walks allowed. Urias has had limited opportunities to face many of San Diego’s hitters with only Wil Myers and Manny Machado having five or more plate appearances. Machado is only hitting .233 on the year as well so if Urias can keep him off the scoreboard, it is a positive sign for the Dodgers.
Our Preview’s San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions & Betting Picks Verdict
It is likely that when the 2020 season began, no one would have predicted that at the quarter-way mark, it would be the San Diego Padres that would stand tied at the top two of MLB for home runs. Sure enough, that’s where things stand as the Padres and Minnesota Twins co-occupy the second spot with 32 home runs apiece, just two behind the league-leading Los Angeles Angels.
Eight of these, belong to Fernando Tatis Jr., who is having a fantastic start to the 2020 season. The young Padre is hitting .316 with 13 extra base hits in his 76 at bats. His eight home runs are tied for second best in MLB and his 18 RBI ties for third. Tatis is someone the Padres can build around and his start has certainly been promising and a huge boost as Machado has struggled somewhat.
Speaking of struggles, the Dodgers’ offense has had some issues in 2020 as the team’s batting average is just 21st in MLB with a .232 mark. It is not what you would expect to see from one of the best lineups in baseball. From a power-hitting standpoint however, the Dodgers have done exactly what they were supposed to do, hitting 30 home runs, which is good enough for fifth best in MLB but power alone won’t win this team a championship.
Against the Padres, the Dodgers mainly struggled, only coming alive in game three. The pitching matchup will favor San Diego in this one so the Dodgers will need to find a way to put runs on the board in support of Urias.
Here we go with our San Diego Padres vs Los Angeles Dodgers predictions and MLB game four picks:
- Look for LA to even the series as their offense seems to be hitting a stride @ best odds of -138 with 5Dimes or BetOnline The spread has the Dodgers -1.5 runs @ +140 with Bovada, but we’ll just stick to that advised moneyline wager.
- Take the over 8.5 runs @ -105 with 5Dimes in what has the looks to be less of a pitching duel and more of an offensive onslaught. Next best is -110 with Bovada.
Marilee writes on NFL, MLB, NBA & tennis for USA Betting. Another area of her sporting journalistic expertise is pro wrestling. A native of Philadelphia and a big Eagles fan, she has been a sports writer for many major websites including Bleacher Report and Rant Sports. She started her journalistic career early, as sports editor for her college newspaper.