Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres Prediction:
The San Diego Padres and Houston Astros have put themselves in prime positioning to make the playoffs. On Friday, they will face off in San Diego to move closer to locking up a playoff spot.
Hunter Brown starts for the Astros. Brown enters having allowed two runs or fewer in six of his past seven starts, though the outlier start was his most recent start, allowing five runs against the Oakland Athletics at home.
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This season, Brown has a 3.59 ERA with 9.6 strikeouts to 3.2 walks per nine innings. He’s backed up by a bullpen that is fifth in the league with a 2.92 ERA since August 1.
The San Diego Padres counter with a 3.07 bullpen ERA that ranks sixth. Tuesday’s starter, Michael King, enters having allowed three earned runs or fewer in 12 straight starts.
This season, King owns a 3.06 ERA with 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and is giving up only 0.9 home runs per nine innings. He faces an Astros team that is seventh with nearly 4.9 runs per game and fifth in home slugging percentage, while their 4.5 runs per game on the road ranks 16th, and their slugging percentage on the road is 13th.
The San Diego Padres’ .274 batting average against right-handed pitchers leads the league, while their nearly 5.3 runs per game since the All-Star Break entered Monday tied for the second-most in the league.
With the Astros offense having issues on the road and the dominance of Michael King, the Padres will take a step closer to securing a playoff spot on Tuesday.
MLB Pick: San Diego Padres -110
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