Padres vs. Astros Prediction
Runs have been at a premium in this weekend’s San Diego Padres and Houston Astros series. In fact, the only run scored on Saturday night should have been an out. Instead, the infield pop up resulted in a walk-off victory for the Astros. Can bettors bank on Sunday’s matchup between the Padres and Astros to be low-scoring as well?
Game Snapshot with Current Odds
929 San Diego Padres (+243) at 930 Houston Astros (-272); 8.5 runs
Sunday, April 8, 2018, 2:10 p.m. ET, Minute Maid Park
TV: FSSD (SD); ATTH (HOU)
Public Betting Trends
As of this writing, the Astros are receiving 76% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks to beat the Padres today on the money line. Meanwhile, 62% of the betting tickets wagered on the total are on the over.
San Diego Padres hope to Rebound from Embarrassing finish on Saturday
The Padres have a new-look roster this year but they were unable to escape embarrassment on Saturday night in Houston. With two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the 10th inning of a scoreless game, Astros third baseman Alex Bregman lifted a high pop-up between the plate and first base. It should have been the easiest of outs, one that would have resulted in the end of the inning. Instead, it resulted in the end of the game. Padres relief pitcher Phil Maton pointed upwards while taking a step off the mound. Catcher A.J. Ellis also pointed up before stepping in front of home plate. Neither player moved as much as first baseman Eric Hosmer, who raced in to catch the pop-up as pitcher and catcher starred skyward. Unfortunately, Hosmer ran in too far and the ball landed safely on the ground as the winning run crossed home plate.
Oops.
San Diego will send Tyson Ross to the mound this afternoon in attempts to move on from the embarrassment of Saturday. Ross once looked like a promising prospect but after an injury sidelined him for nearly all of 2016, the starter has never regained form. Ross has the unenviable task today of keeping George Springer, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa from finally breaking out.
Houston Astros Look for Series Win vs. Lowly Padres
The Astros will send Morton to the mound this afternoon to face a Padres lineup that owns one of the lowest run totals of the day. That’s not surprising considering San Diego has struggled offensively in the early going. Morton struck out six batters over six scoreless innings in his season debut on Monday night against the Orioles. He scattered two walks and three hits in the 91-pitch outing. The 34-year-old is off to a nice start for the defending champs.
Now, if only the Astros can rediscover the offense that they used against Texas and Baltimore, respectively. Altuve went 1-for-2 with two walks against the Padres while reaching safely in all nine games this season. He’s also notched a hit in each of his last eight games but the Astros will need to find their offense today in efforts to avoid an ugly series loss to the struggling Padres.
Betting Trends:
San Diego
The Padres are just 1-4 in their last five games against the Astros, with that lone victory coming Friday night. The under is also 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams in Houston.
Houston
The Astros are 5-1 in Morton’s last six home starts and have won six of his last eight outings dating back to last season.
Bet Sunday’s San Diego Padres vs. Houston Astros Matchup
Today’s MLB Prediction
After racking up plenty of runs against Texas and Baltimore pitching over the course of four consecutive games, the Astros offense has come to a screeching halt. They needed the aforementioned misplay by the Padres in order to score the winning run on Saturday night and they managed just one run on Friday in a 4-1 defeat against this same San Diego pitching staff. In fact, they have scored just five runs in their last three games.
On the other side, only Hosmer will strike any real fear into Morton, who otherwise should silence a Padres offense that has managed just four runs (all of which were scored on Friday) combined in Houston. Minute Maid Park is usually a hitter-friendly venue but these two teams have turned into into anything but.
Pick: Padres/Astros under 8.5