Our Thursday night MLB predictions take us to Petco Park for a crucial series opener between the division rival San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
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After letting a golden opportunity slip through the cracks last night in Arizona, the Giants find themselves two-games in back of the Padres in the NL West and two-games off the pace set by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card race. That said; the Giants continue to be just above average on the road (36-35, $376) and could claim the top spot in the division if they were to sweep this four-game series in San Diego.

The Padres had been grossly overachieving all season and currently sit atop the money standings as the biggest moneymaker in all of baseball. Unfortunately, their good fortune came to a crashing halt when the calendar flipped to September. When the swoon ended, the Padres dropped 10 in a row and only found themselves holding a one-game lead after holding a comfortable one the majority of the season. They most recently bounced back to sweep the Dodgers to move to 41-29 on the year ($686) entering tonight’s series opener.

San Francisco Giants (78-62, $935) vs. San Diego Padres (79-59, $2191)
Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 2nd, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO
TV/Radio Broadcast: PHL17, FOX – Rocky Mountain, XM

MLB Odds: San Francisco Giants +1.5 -210 -105 (Matt Cain – R) vs. San Diego Padres -1.5 +175 -115 (Jon Garland – R): Total 6.5 O +105 6.5 U -125

Matt Cain has been dealing some nasty cheddar of late! He’s 1-0 with a 3.80 ERA & 1.14 WHIP allowing 18 hits and just nine ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 20/3 his L/3 starts. The righty had tossed four quality starts in a row up until his most recent outing at LA where the dodgers got to him for seven hits and four ER’s through seven IP; SF still won 5-4.

He has had his most trouble away from AT&T Park this season where he stands 3-7 but still sports a decent ERA (3.69) and WHIP (1.29). He’s faced the San Diego Padres three times this season, and the Giants dropped each outing. SD has given him problems throughout his career as he’s 4-8 with a 3.12 ERA in 21 career starts.

Opposing him will be righty Jon Garland who loves nothing more than to pitch in the comfy confines of Petco Park. Overall this season, Garland owns a 13-10 record with a 3.31 ERA. However, when at home, he’s 7-4 with a 2.68 ERA and the Padres have won nine of his 15 overall outings giving him an average 4.27 runs of support to work with.

He’s dominated the Giants throughout his career going a perfect 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA & 1.13 WHIP in four career outings. He bested Cain in a Petco match-up earlier this season tossing seven innings of one-run ball in the Padres 5-2 victory.

MLB Insider Tip : The Padres have owned the San Fransisco Giants this season winning nine of the 11 overall meetings dropping only one of the five games in tonight’s venue. As good as Cain has been of late, he has problems with the Padres for some strange reason (3-13 L/16), and the Giants are just 2-6 in his L/8 starts as the visiting pitcher.

San Diego picked up some much needed self confidence by sweeping the Dodgers, and I look for them to carry it over into the final regular season series between these clubs at Petco Park. Back the NL West leading Padres in tonight’s series opener!

My MLB Prediction: San Diego Padres (Garland)

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

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