The Colorado Rockies (46-59, 13-39 away) and San Diego Padres (60-47, 35-22 home) wrap up a four-game set Sunday afternoon with the series finale in Southern California. Colorado took Saturday’s contest, 5-3.
Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. EST at Petco Park in San Diego, CA. According to oddsmakers, the Padres are the betting favorite (-160), and the run total is 8.5.
What to Know – Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are 13-games under .500 but head into Sunday’s matchup winners of their last two. Colorado is 6-8 over the first two weeks of the second half and sits in fourth place in the National League West standings.
The scheduled starter for the visitors is lefty Austin Gomber (8-5, 3.69 ERA, 1.05 WHIP). Gomber has been hot on the mound since June, having not lost a game since May 29th. In his last start, 27-year old fired 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, with seven strikeouts for his eighth victory of the season.
Colorado owns a .244 team batting average but just a .212 average away from Coors Field. Second baseman Ryan McMahon leads the Rockies with 17 home runs and 55 runs driven in. Outfielder Raimel Tapia is a threat at the plate and on the basepath, sporting a .289 batting average with a team-high 19 stolen bases.
What to Know – San Diego Padres
San Diego continues to struggle with five losses over their last seven games. The Padres will be without star Fernando Tatis Jr. for the foreseeable future with a shoulder injury that could need season-ending surgery. San Diego finds themselves third in the NL West division, 6.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants.
Right-hander Reiss Kneher (0-0, 4.91 ERA, 1.91 WHIP) is penciled in to make his first career start on the mound. The 24-year old rookie threw 3.2 innings of relief in Friday’s victory, surrendering two runs on three hits. Kneher is the ninth-ranked Padres prospect, according to mlb.com.
The Padres rank eighth in the majors in on-base percentage (.324) and 12th in the league in slugging percentage (.410). With Tatis Jr. sidelined, it will be up to third baseman Manny Machado (20 HRs, 75 RBIs) to step up as the leader of San Diego’s offense. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth has homered in two of the last three games against the Rockies.
The Pick is In
The under is 4-0 in Gomber’s last four trips to the mound, and the Rockies are 6-1 in his previous seven starts as an underdog. San Diego was expected to have Chris Paddack on the mound today, but the pitcher was placed on the injured list Saturday with a strained left oblique.
With a travel day tomorrow, the Padres will lean on their bullpen to get them through today’s matchup. The Rockies have a good chance to take their third victory from the Padres in as many days, but we will side with the trends in this one.
The Pick: Rockies/Padres UNDER 8.5
