In the second of a two-game series between the San Diego Padres (37-42) and the Seattle Mariners (37-42) at Petco Park, James Shields (7-2, 4.24 ERA) and Taijuan Walker (6-6, 4.64 ERA) take the mound. The Mariners won the last game 5-0 and Seattle leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 3:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jul. 1 and will air on ROOT-NW and FSN-SD.
Shields has a 3.87 ERA and a 5-4 record in his career against the Mariners, and is up against a less-than-stellar Seattle offense that’s hitting just .230 on the year. In his pitching opportunities against the Padres, Walker is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA, six strikeouts and one walk. Nelson Cruz (.305, 37 Rs, 19 HRs, 46 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 3 yesterday with one run.
San Diego is a -146 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at seven runs. The Padres are 21-16 as the favorite and have an overall money line of -367. They stand winless as the favorite with a 0-5 record, though they have a more impressive record SU (4-8) against the American League. The Padres seem to play worse on offense against American League opponents. In those matchups, San Diego has only averaged 3.3 runs per game compared to its 4.2 season average. Whenever an American League opponent shows up on the calendar, the Padres seem to struggle with pitching. They allow an average of 4.6 runs per game, but allow 6.9 against teams from the AL. An area where the Padres are particularly strong is striking batters out, where they average 8.4 K’s per game.
Across the field, the Mariners have a record of 14-15 when they are the underdog and are -1,332 overall with the money line. They have played at the top of their game when rated as the underdog as of late. They managed a 3-1 record when playing as the underdog and an SU record of 4-6.
The Mariners are 2-1 against the Padres this season. This game will feature Walker (RHP) on the mound against the Padres, who have a 28-34 record when they take on a right-handed starter. Taking the hill against the Mariners will be the right-hander Shields. They sport a 27-33 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – SD, O/U – Under
Notes
Seattle has won 43% (10-13) of its games when leading after 7 innings. However, San Diego has won 56% (20-16) of its games when taking a late lead.
Having scored zero runs in their last game, the Padres are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Mariners have a 6-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs.
When they are outhit, the Padres are 6-33. The Mariners have an 11-25 record when opponents outhit them.
Ranking 19th in home runs, San Diego has hit 65 this season. Seattle ranks 10th with 79 home runs.
Ranking 15th, Seattle is in the top half of the league in hits, notching 7.71 per game. San Diego ranks in the top 10 at 10th with 8.40.
San Diego and Seattle both rank near the bottom of the league for their on-base plus slugging percentage. San Diego sits at 26th with an OPS of .671 and Seattle ranks 27th with an OPS of .666.
When the Mariners allow at least one home run, they are 14-34, well-matched with the Padres who are 19-30 when allowing at least one homer.
