NL West: Where Did the Padres Come From?
If you haven’t checked the N. L. West standings lately, you may be surprised to see the San Diego Padres have gotten over the .500 mark. While people have been paying attention to the Los Angeles Dodgers and their struggles and the Defending World Champion San Francisco Giants, the Padres are climbing up the standings.
San Diego got off to a dreadful start at 2-10. By the end of April, the Padres were 10-16. Had it not been for three game sweeps of the Dodgers and Giants, things could have really been ugly. In Mid-May, the Padres worked their way up to 16-18 before taking on the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-game series in St. Petersburg. After the Rays won the opening game of the series, the Padres were up 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth in the second game. Huston Street was going for his ninth save in nine chances when Evan Longoria stepped up with a runner on first. Longoria blasted one over the left field fence to beat the Padres 5-4.
The Rays went on to sweep the series and San Diego was now back to five under. They ended the month of May at four under. June started with three losses in the first four games to drop the Padres to 23-29. Since then, San Diego has won 11 of 15 games and are now 34-33 a half game up on the Colorado Rockies, a half game behind the Giants and 2.5 games behind the first place Arizona Diamondbacks.Â
The N. L. West is perhaps baseball’s best race right now. The fourth place team is within three games of first. The A.L. East has four teams with five games of first while the A. L. Central has four teams withing six games of first. But in the National League West, even the last place Dodgers are only 8.5 games back.
The Padres beat the Dodgers 6-3 last night to start a four-game weekend series. Clayton Kershaw bring his 5-4 record and 1.84 ERA to the mound for the Dodgers while the Padres counter with Clayton Richard with a 2-5 record and an ERA of 7.01.
Here are today’s N. L. West Odds on Oddsmaker:
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers– Oddsmaker has the Dodgers -1.5 +110 and the Padres are +1.5 -130. Moneyline is the Dodgers -150 and the Padres +135. Over/Under is 6.5. We like the Dodgers with Kershaw and the under.
Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks- The Reds are -1.5 +130 and the Diamondbacks are +1.5 -150. Moneyine has the Reds with Johnny Cueto on the mound at -112 and the D-Backs with Wade Miley on the mound +102. Over/Under is 8. We like the Reds and the under.
Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants- The Marlins are +1.5 -170 and the Giants are -1.5 +150 ATS. Moneyline is the Marlins +140 and the Giants -155 with Tim Lincecum on the mound. The Marlins counter with Ricky Nolasco. Over/Under is 7. We like the Marlins +1.5 and the over.
Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals- The Rockies are +1.5Â -140 and the Nats are -1.5 +120 ATS with Steven Strasburg pitching. Moneyline has the Rockies and Tyler Chatwood at +160 and the Nationals -180. Over/Under is 7. We like the Rockies +1.5 and the under.
