San Diego Padres (10-11) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (11-9)
April 22, 2023 8:10 pm EDT
The Line: Arizona Diamondbacks +110 / San Diego Padres -141; Over/Under: +9
(Get latest betting odds)
The San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks meet Saturday in MLB action from Chase Field. This will be the third installment in a four-game weekend set. The Padres took a two-run win in the opener, then on Friday the Diamondbacks evened it up with a blowout victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
San Diego Padres
The Padres broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning during the Thursday opener of this series, powering out a 7-5 victory. On Friday San Diego coughed up seven runs in the eighth inning on the way to a 9-0 defeat. Starter Seth Lugo finished with 6.0 innings, two earned, six hits and a walk.
For the starter job in the Saturday game the Padres will send out Joe Musgrove. This will be his season debut following a fractured toe in February. Musgrove is 50-54 with a 3.79 ERA in 170 career games (144 starts).
Arizona Diamondbacks
Over on the Arizona side, they managed to out-hit the Padres 12-7 in game one but couldn’t dig out of the hole. On Friday the Diamondbacks notched 12 team hits on the way to the victory. Zac Gallen put up 7.0 frames in the start with just two hits, no walks and 11 Ks.
Merrill Kelly will make the start for the Diamondbacks on Saturday. Over his four starts so far Kelly is 1-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. Kelly is 37-37 in his career with a 3.91 ERA in 101 starts.
The Padres are 4-1 in their last five Saturday games and 6-1 in their last seven in game three of a series. The under is 5-2 in San Diego’s last seven in game three of a series.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are 20-41 in their last 61 Saturday games and 9-4 in their last 13 versus a right-handed starter. The over is 4-1 in Arizona’s last five in game three of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to try the Diamondbacks here. Kelly has been pretty steady so far this season, and he’s got six earned over his last three starts in 17.2 combined innings. Kelly put up just one earned in 6.0 innings at Busch Stadium in his last outing on April 17. That said, it’ll be interesting to see what Musgrove can do in his debut. I think he’ll do well, but the Padres will likely keep him on a relatively short leash. In the Friday matchup, Arizona got at least one hit from seven different players in the shutout victory. I like this one to be much closer, but I think the Diamondbacks have a good shot at a win here as well.
