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2024-03-28
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
League : MLB

San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants Prediction & Preview

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#909 San Diego
Padres
 
#910 San Francisco
Giants

Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 3:05pm

Image licensed from USA Today Sports

 

This game means everything to the San Francisco Giants as they have a sub-.500 divisional record this season and lose every single tiebreaker scenario, so this game means a lot to them. Neither team has announced the starter but it is expected that Zach Davies will start for the Padres while the Giants are lined up to have Drew Smyly take the hill. The game will be played in Oracle Park so there will be eyeballs of almost a third of the National League fans to see who will get the final available playoff spot.

This game doesn’t mean nearly as much for the San Diego Padres. They have clinched a home best-of-three series in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The only question would be the seeding since they can still occupy the second seed as they could swap with the Atlanta Braves if things go their way. This game will probably be a tune-up game for San Diego as they are limping into the playoffs on the pitching side with Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet both are hurt. But being the reason a division rival misses the playoffs? That’s all the motivation the Padres need.

 

Slam Diego

A lot of news has happened out of San Diego when they traded for Mike Clevinger at the Trade Deadline. However, their bats are being somehow underrated this season. Manny Machado is having a good season with a .963 OPS and hitting over .300 with 16 homers. He has been hot as of late with a .360 batting average and .684 slugging over his last 30 games played. Having Machado in the middle of the order will definitely help this lineup.

 

 

Then you have one of baseball’s brightest superstars: Fernando Tatis Jr. He made some waves earlier in the season when he hit a grand slam on a 3-0 pitch late in the ballgame, but that just made EL Nino even more known and likeable by non-Padre fans. His numbers have fallen off the last two weeks but he still has 16 home runs and a .933 OPS from the shortstop position. He also has better numbers away from San Diego this year. With these two in your lineup, you have to feel like your offense has a chance to get going.

 

Time to Belt One

Brandon Belt has been on two of the San Francisco Giants’ World Series runs. This season, however, maybe his best one in his decade-long career. Belt is hitting .310 with a 1.025 OPS in 49 games this year with nine homers and 29 RBI. He also has a 29:35 walk-to-strikeout ratio. He has been raking as of late as he is 8-for-20 in his last seven games with a .700 slugging percentage.

 

He needs to keep this going to finish the season because the Giants control their own destiny. The roster is full of veteran players and has a new manager in Gabe Kapler this season. Last season felt like one last run with Madison Bumgarner and Bruce Bochy leaving in the offseason and ending an era of Giants baseball, but anything can happen in a best-of-three series and they would end up facing the Los Angeles Dodgers if they advance to the postseason. All you have to do is punch a ticket and Brandon Belt can be the reason why.

 












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