MLB Baseball
2012-04-20 - Philadelphia Phillie at San Diego Padres
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Friday 20 April 2012 - First Pitch 10:05pm ET
3:05am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Philadelphia Phillies (6-7) secured Game 1 of the series last night with a 2-0 win and they now look to complete the series win as well as moving back to 0.500 as they meet the San Diego Padres (3-11) again.
Philadelphia have dominated recent meetings at Petco Park against the Padres, but they will be hoping they can finally get more from the batting line up on the plate as they once again failed to score more than 2 runs yesterday.
While the runs are not being put on the board, it is not for the lack of trying. The Phillies will be hoping they can find some clutch hitting from somewhere as they continue to strand runners in scoring positions. They are now just 2 from 23 with runners in scoring positions over their last 3 games, and they were 1 from 8 in this situation yesterday.
They will now face Edinson Volquez who has had a tough start to the 2012 season. Volquez is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA and he comes in to this one off a tough start when he allowed 4 runs and gave up 5 walks in just 5 innings pitched.
Volquez has performed well against Philadelphia, winning both career starts with a 0.73 ERA although he has not faced them since 2008.
While Philadelphia look to get out of their offensive struggles, San Diego have also struggled at the plate with an average of 0.208, although they have at least found a way to get runners past home plate. With Petco Park being a tough place for hitters, it is no surprise to notice that San Diego have scored 3 or fewer runs in 6 of their 8 games here.
It won't be any easier for them as they face Cole Hamels, a San Diego native, who has a 1-1 record in 2012 and a 3.65 ERA. Hamels struggled in his opening start of the season, but bounced back against the New York Mets by allowing just 2 runs from 7 innings pitched as the Phillies won 8-2.
Hamels has also enjoyed pitching here, going 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA in his last 3 career starts at Petco Park.
Head to Head
Philadelphia improved to 23-4 in their 27 games played at Petco Park since it opened in 2004 with a 2-0 win in Game 1.
Prediction
I am going back to the well by picking the Philadelphia Phillies on the run line for a second night in a row.
They have struggled at the plate, but there are signs that they are not too far away from breaking out offensively as they are getting runners into scoring positions and it will take just one clutch hit to perhaps break out the runs.
They have struggled against Edinson Volquez in the past, but a lot has changed in 4 years since they last saw one another, and I think the Phillies can have some success against him.
With Cole Hamels likely to enjoy pitching in this ballpark as he has in previous road starts here, I think it is worth backing Philadelphia to continue their dominance of the series.
The Pick :
San Diego Padres 1-4 Philadelphia Phillies
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Philadelphia Phillies - 1.5 @ 2.35
