Colorado Rockies vs San Diego Padres Pick - 2018 MBL Baseball August 31

The Colorado Rockies are in San Diego on August 31, 2018 for Game 2 of their final set of the season against the Padres.

Colorado and Arizona are going head to head in the battle for the National League West and with the defending division champions Los Angeles Dodgers right behind them, every game for the Rockies has become crucial. With the possibility that the second placed team in their division might not earn a wild card slot in the playoffs, this series becomes all the more important for the Rockies.

The Padres are at the bottom of the division at 52-83 entering this series and 21.5 games behind the Rockies in the team standings. Home hasn’t felt like that this season for San Diego as they are only 25-43 at Petco Park this season. The Rockies have been one of the best road teams in the National League at 38-30 away from home.

Senzatela Starts for The Rockies

23 year old Antonio Senzatela will start on top of the mound for Colorado. The left hander from Valencia, Venezuela has pitched in a total of 17 games with seven games started this season. Senzatela has compiled a record of 4-4 and has a 5.24 ERA and a WHIP of 1.43 while allowing opposing batters to hit .272 against him.

In his most recent start last August 24, 2018, Senzatela earned the loss after allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits and one walk with four strikeouts across 4.1 innings pitched as the Rockies lost 5-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Senzatela gave up two home runs in that game, one to Tyler O’Neill and another to Miles Mikolas.

Senzatela has given up a total of 15 earned runs on 30 hits and 11 walks in his last five outings. He’s 1-2 over that period while the Rockies lost three of those five games. In his four games pitched against the Padres this season (none was a start), Senzatela is 1-0 but he has an ERA of 6.14, allowing 8 total runs on 11 hits with two homeruns in 7.1 innings pitched.

What’re the Odds?

Colorado Rockies vs San Diego Padres 8/31/18
Odds: Rockies -134, Padres +134
Odds from Betonline.ag as of 8/29/18

Kennedy Looking For First Win

Rookie pitcher Brett Kennedy will get his fifth start of the season against the Rockies on Friday. The 24 year old Fordham product did not factor in the decision in his last start, a 4-5 Padres’ loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last August 25, 2018. In that game, Kennedy pitched five innings and gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

The right hander currently has an 0-2 record and is looking for his first Major League win. Kennedy has an ERA of 7.58 and a WHIP of 1.95. Kennedy pitched against the Diamondbacks last August 19th, in his third career start. He gave up two runs on six hits including one home run while walking three and fanning four batters as San Diego dropped a 3-4 contest.

For San Diego, Eric Hosmer has batted 2-4 against Antonio Senzatela this season. Hosmer went 3-5 with 1 RBI in San Diego’s 8/29/18 win over the Mariners. Right fielder Wil Myers is also 2-2 with 2 RBIs against Senzatela this season. Franchy Cordero is 2-3 against Senzatela with one home run. As a team, the Padres are batting .333 against Senzatela with an on base percentage of .389 against the Venezuelan.

Who Wins?

Heading to this series, the Padres are coming off back to back wins over the Mariners but overall, they have lost 11 of their last 15 games. On the other hand, the Rockies are coming off a split with the Angels but have won 10 of their last 15 games. Colorado has won the the last two meetings between these teams and lead the season series 9-6.

Entering this matchup, the Rockies have lost just once in their last six road games and have lost just twice in their last seven games in San Diego. Meanwhiles, the Padres have won just five times in their last 22 starts at home and have beaten the Rockies just twice in their last seven meetings in San Diego. Colorado has won 8 out of the previous 13 head to head matchups between these teams.

Although he’s pitched better in his last two starts, Brett Kennedy’s Major League career is off to a rather rough start. Kennedy didn’t lose any of his 15 Triple A assignments this season but he is winless in four starts in the big league.Senzatela has pitched before against the Padres but this will be his first start against them.

Betting Prediction

Senzatela has not played well as of late but neither has been the rookie Kennedy been impressive and is still winless in the Majors. In this situations, I’m leaning towards backing the better team. Offensively, the Rockies average 4.71 runs per game against the Padres’ 3.81. They also produce more hits per game at 8.69 against San Diego’s 7.94. We’re picking the Colorado Rockies to beat the San Diego Padres on 8/31/18.

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