Red Sox vs Padres Series Predictions
Red Sox Start 3 Game Series vs Padres Friday
The Boston Red Sox head into a big series in San Diego after getting a Thursday off in beautiful San Diego which I’m sure they enjoyed. An NL wild card team also fighting for the top of their division. The stakes of this series are equally as big for each team, and I know the fan bases feel it.
GAME 1: Walker Buehler vs. Nick Pivetta
Game one is going to be the toughest game on paper for the Red Sox to win. As many Red Sox fans feel (maybe except fellow Bastard, Charlie) it is difficult to expect a win in a Buehler start. Also having to go against Nick Pivetta who is having the best season of his career. A pitcher that Red Sox know very well, Pivetta is 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA with a 0.94 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched). With the possibility of a Pivetta revenge game on the Sox and the team coming off of a night out in San Diego I am going to say we drop the series opener. Hopefully Walker can get out of the 4th inning 🙄.
GAME 2: Lucas Giolito vs. Michael King
I see game two of the series as a must win after I presume, they are dropping the first game. The good thing is I really like the Red Sox to win game two. With Lucas Giolito continuing his stretch of good starts going deep into games I feel confident as a Red Sox fan when Giolito takes the mound at this point in the season. With a 8-2 record and a sub 4 ERA Lucas has really locked in after a shaky start to the season. While the game two starter for the Padres is going to be Michael King who has spent most of his career coming out of the bullpen. King is also making his first start after a shoulder surgery put him on the DL for 60 days. This will be Kings first start since May and having to jump right in taking on a hot Red Sox team is going to be a tall task. I think the Red Sox will even the series up 1-1 and make Sunday’s rubber match the deciding game.
GAME 3: Bryan Bello vs. Dylan Cease
Sunday’s game is a day game in beautiful San Diego starting a 4:10 eastern time for Red Sox fans. Hopefully the Sox will be in a position to win the series on Sunday if they haven’t already throughout the first two games. All they need to do is win one of the games to get to Sunday and give the ball to Bryan Bello. Bello has been fantastic this year finally turning into the pitcher Sox nation knew he could be. With another long outing that we are getting used to seeing from Bello paired with only giving up a run or two could get his ERA under 3 on the season. Bello gives his team a chance to win every time he takes the hill, and he is the kind of kid to want the ball in a big game like this will be. Dylan Cease on the other hand, despite being in a ton of trade rumors has had a tough season. With a 4-10 record and an ERA close to 5 Cease has struggled through 23 starts. Although 5th in strikeouts he can still get a lot of swing and misses when he does get outs. The way the Red Sox have been swinging the bats as of late getting back-to-back games seeing King and Cease should be a good opportunity to keep the bats hot and win the last two games of the series and walk away with another series win.
Why This Series Is So Important
I have been saying over and over how big this series is, and it reigns true for both ball clubs. The Red Sox a top of the wild card standings in the AL and the Padres in the second wild card position in the NL neither team can afford to be losing series at this point. While the Sox are 4 games back in the division the Padres are only 2 games out of a division lead. The biggest sub plot of this series is the other series that is going on 120 miles south of San Diego in Los Angeles. The two teams leading the Red Sox and Padres, the Toronto Blue Jays and the LA Dodgers are also starting a three game series Friday. Both series outcomes are going to have a big impact on the playoff picture in each league. The division races could get a lot more interesting come Monday, let’s hope the Red Sox are on the right side of it!