NL West Matchup
The Arizona Diamondbacks are off to a great start and they’ll look to continue their early season success Saturday when they host the San Diego Padres. Thus far, 54% of the public likes Arizona, who is -112 on the money line.
A potent offense has helped the Arizona Diamondbacks jump out to the best start in the majors.
The same cannot be said about the sputtering San Diego Padres’ offense.
The surging Diamondbacks look to open with the best start in their 11-year history on Saturday when they continue their three-game series against the Padres, who are trying to avoid dropping their fourth straight game.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Arizona -112 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 54% of bets for this game have been placed on Arizona –112 (View MLB Bet Percentages). Bet this game.
In Friday’s series opener, Arizona (12-4) scored six runs in the first inning off Greg Maddux en route to a 9-0 rout over weary San Diego. The Padres (8-9) were coming off a 2-1, 22-inning loss at Colorado that ended early Friday morning.
"Tried to jump on them early," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.
The defending NL West champion Diamondbacks, who won 10 of their first 16 games last season, have matched the fastest start in franchise history. The 2000 club also opened 12-4 before losing its next three games. Arizona has never opened with 13 wins in 17 games.
The Diamondbacks’ offense has been a big reason for their start. They lead the majors with 102 runs, have the second-most homers (25), and have outscored their opponents 21-3 during their three-game winning streak.
The Padres, meanwhile, have been outscored 21-3 during their three-game losing streak, as their offense has been virtually nonexistent lately.
San Diego is tied with San Francisco for the fewest runs scored in the majors (50), and has hit a major-league worst six homers. The Padres have scored two or fewer runs in 10 of their 17 games, and have scored one run in their last 35 innings.
On Friday, Arizona’s Conor Jackson went 4-for-5 with a single, homer and two triples. In the sixth inning, Jackson needed a double for his first career cycle, but legged out his second triple of the game again, instead.
"I’m not going to lie,” Jackson said with a smile. "Of course it crossed my mind."
Jackson is 8-for-16 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his last four games.
Eric Byrnes singled and doubled on Friday, and is batting .364 (20-for-55) with eight doubles, seven RBIs and 13 runs scored during his 13-game hitting streak. Byrnes is 3-for-19 (.158) with a homer and eight strikeouts lifetime against Saturday’s scheduled starter Chris Young (1-1, 5.17 ERA).
Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young is hitless in 10 career at-bats against the San Diego pitcher with the same name.
Young, who was originally scheduled to pitch Friday’s series opener, was experiencing some stiffness in his elbow and his start was pushed back a day.
The right-hander is coming off a rough outing, as he was tagged for seven runs, seven hits and four walks in only three innings of an 11-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday. Young, who had the lowest opponent batting average in the majors each of the previous two seasons, retired only nine of the 21 batters he faced.
Young had no success against the Diamondbacks last season, going 0-3 with a 7.32 ERA in four starts. He is 1-2 with a 4.84 ERA in four career starts at Chase Field, where Arizona is 6-1 this season.
The Diamondbacks counter with Edgar Gonzalez (0-1, 4.50), who makes his first start since undergoing some dental surgery earlier this week.
On Sunday, Gonzalez gave up three runs, five hits and hit two batters in only three innings of a 13-5 loss to Colorado. He was pitching with an infected tooth and felt dizzy on the mound. He had surgery the next day.
The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.08 ERA in five games – two starts – lifetime against San Diego. He hasn’t made a start against the Padres since 2006.