The San Diego Padres (18-16, 10-10 home) wrap up a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers (20-14, 8-8 away) in primetime on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. San Diego opened up series play with a victory on Friday, and the Dodgers bounced back on Saturday to even the set.
The first pitch of the finale is at 7:00 p.m. EST inside Petco Park in San Diego, California. The contest is a pick em, and the over/under total is eight runs.
What to Know – Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles has won seven of its last eight contests and vaulted to the top spot in the NL West. The Dodgers can win their third series in a row with a victory on Sunday night.
The expected starter for the Dodgers is left-hander Julio Urias (4-3, 3.86 ERA, 1.11 WHIP). Outside of a pair of rough starts, Urias has been solid on the mound in 2023. The 26-year-old has toed the rubber seven times, logging 39.2 innings, allowing 17 earned runs, 36 hits, eight walks, and striking out 45 batters.
The Dodgers are 24th in the MLB batting .235 as a team while averaging 5.5 runs per game. The pitching staff for Los Angeles is 15th in the league with a 4.26 team earned run average.
Max Muncy and rookie James Outman have continued to power the Dodgers’ offense. The unlikely duo have combined for 19 home runs and 49 runs batted in. Freddie Freeman is hitting a team-high .306 and has scored 25 runs in 2023.
What to Know – San Diego Padres
San Diego has won five of their last seven games and have stayed toe-to-toe in what is becoming a three-team race in the NL West. The Padres are two games back of Los Angeles in the standings and 1.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for second place.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove (1-0, 10.80 ERA, 1.68 WHIP) makes his third start of the season. Musgrove was knocked around in his last trip, coughing up seven earned runs in 3.1 innings. Spanning two starts, he’s pitched 8.1 innings, allowed ten earned runs, 13 hits, one walk, and punching out nine batters.
On offense, San Diego is 23rd amongst league teams hitting .233 and scoring 4.3 runs per game. The Padres pitching staff is 14th in the MLB showcasing a 4.16 team ERA.
Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto carried the team over the first 20 games while star Fernando Tatis Jr. served his suspension. Since returning to the lineup, Tatis Jr. has hit four home runs and driven in 10 RBIs through 14 games. Bogaerts has a team-high six home runs, while Soto has driven in 17 RBIs.
The Pick is In
Both of the offenses for these teams haven’t stood on paper through the first six weeks of the season. The expectation was Los Angeles, and San Diego would have two of the top lineups in the majors.
Expect a tight ball game with two solid arms on the mound, but the depth of LA’s hitters proves too much for the Padres bullpen.
The Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers ML
