This is an important 3 game series for these 2 NL West rivals, whoever wins will keep pace with the first place Dodgers and the loser will fall back in the pack. The home team Padres call on Yu Darvish (2-1) and the Giants will send out Logan Webb (1-1). I expect Darvish with his awesome assortment of pitches to have enough to beat the Giants and get him his first home “W” as a Padres pitcher.
Things are looking pretty good this season for the San Francisco Giants. Manager Gabe Kapler has his team in a first place tie in the NL West with the world champion Dodgers, and even if they don’t win the division (which let’s face it nobody really expects), they are tracking to make the postseason and then, as history has shown, anything can happen. Speaking of pretty good, you have to say the same about the Giants Friday opponent San Diego. The Padres are, as of Thursday 14-12 on the young season and in third place in an ultra competitive NL West where only the D-backs have a losing record. Recent history, these two squads met for three close games at Petco April 4,5 and 6 and the Giants took 2 with each team scoring 7 runs in the series. These NL West series are bound to be competitive in ‘21 and wins will be hard to come by this weekend. Friday Padres manager Jayce Tingler will send Yu Darvish (2-1) to the bump. Darvish has yet to get a win at home this season but sports a nice WHIP at 0.85 and in 5 appearances so far has pitched 31 innings and has a 2.27 ERA. Darvish has good enough stuff to keep the Giants’ bats silent. He throws more types of pitches (at least 10) than some pitchers actually pitch in an outing. If you’re placing a bet with NJ legal betting sites, then Darvish and his awesome arsenal is worth knowing about. Multiple varieties of cut fastballs, breaking pitches, off-speed stuff, Darvish has them all. I can’t wait to watch this game to see how he’ll try to fool the Giants hitters. At the bat the Padres are 6th in the majors in On Base % at .323 and 1B Eric Hosmer leads the team with a .299 BA, a .361 OBP and has 29 hits this season. RF Wil Myers has started off strong .360 OBP and Fernando Tatis Jr. at SS leads the Padres with 7 HR. The Padres hitters should be able to do damage against Webb and get to the Giants pen. For the Giants, their most impressive offensive stat is their 31 home runs which is 6th in MLB. Let’s face it, Darvish isn’t going to go winless at home all season and Friday against the Giants looks like the day he gets a win. If you’re looking for MLB betting odds, take the Padres and the moneyline in this one – San Diego wins at home.