Padres vs Pirates Odds and Picks (April 29)

• The Padres are -165 road favorites over the Pirates on Friday night
• Yu Darvish (1-1, 4.43) will start for the Padres against Zach Thompson (0-2, 10.80)
• A look at the Padres vs Pirates odds and matchup can be found below with a pick

Two teams having very different weeks meet when the San Diego Padres visit the Pittsburgh Pirates at 6:35 p.m. ET Friday in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.

The Padres (13-7/7-3 road) are coming off a three-game sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati that ended Thursday with an 7-5 victory. The Pirates (8-11/4-5 home) were swept at home by the Milwaukee Brewers in three games, including losing 3-2 on Thursday.

Padres vs Pirates Odds

Odds as of April 28th at BetMGM.

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The Padres are -165 favorites, giving them an implied win probability of 62.26% The temperature is expected to be 62 degrees at first pitch with calm winds and partly cloudy skies.

The Padres have World Series odds of +1700 while the Pirates’ are +40000.

San Diego vs Pittsburgh Probable Pitchers

Yu Darvish (1-1, 4.43) will start for the Padres against Zach Thompson (0-2, 10.80). Both will be working on five days of rest.

Darvish vs Thompson

Darvish was outstanding his last time out Saturday in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home, pitching one-hit ball over six shutout innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Darvish’s season statistics are skewed by a nightmarish outing against the Giants on April 12 in San Francisco in which he was hammered for nine runs in 1.2 innings. He has allowed one run total in 18.2 innings in his other three starts.

Yu Darvish, 97mph Paint. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/PXilS39PiH

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 24, 2022

This will be Darvish’s ninth career start against the Pirates, and he is 3-2 with a 2.40 ERA. He has a 1-0 record and 3.29 ERA in two games at PNC Park.

Darvish is 0-1 with a 10.57 ERA in two road starts this season and 0-1 with a 5.93 ERA in three starts at night.

Reserve outfielder Jake Marisnick could be in the lineup as he is 3 for 8 off Darvish with a double. Meanwhile, Bryan Reynolds is 1 for 10 with four strikeouts, though his one hit is a home run, and Roberto Perez is 1 for 8.

Thompson has struggled mightily after being acquired from the Miami Marlins in an offseason trade and had a nightmarish outing last Friday against the Cubs in Chicago. He was rocked for nine runs (four earned) and nine hits in two innings with two walks and one strikeout.

Zach Thompson gets Oneil Cruz swinging. Thompson is one of the laundry list of candidates for the starting rotation. pic.twitter.com/wy1zw6eQad

— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) March 16, 2022

Thompson’ short track record against the Padres is also bad as he has lost both starts with a 7.00 ERA.

In his only start at home this season, Thompson allowed two runs in four innings against the Cubs in a no-decision. He also has one start at night and surrendered six runs in four innings at Milwaukee on April 18.

Padres vs Pirates Betting Outlook

Ha-Seong Kim’s three-run double in the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie and the Padres went on to beat the Reds on Thursday. Kim had two doubles among his three hits and finished the series with five RBIs.

King Kim in the Queen City 👑 #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/WCVbOwcElO

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 28, 2022

Manny Machado had four hits following a three-hit performance a night earlier.  His NL MVP odds are +2200.

Eric Hosmer went 2 for 4 to lift his batting average to .415, tops in the major leagues. Jorge Alfaro drove in two runs.

The Padres placed right fielder Wil Myers (right thumb contusion) on the injured list before the game.

The Pirates had a tough loss Thursday when closer Chris Stratton could not hold a 2-1 lead, giving up a two-run double to the Brewers’ Andrew McCutchen in the ninth inning.

Cutch takes back the lead!@TheCUTCH22 | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/sizEY1Lacd

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 28, 2022

The Pirates managed just six hits a day after being one-hit by five Milwaukee pitchers.

Backup catcher Andrew Knapp, who was scheduled to give Perez a break, was a late scratch from the lineup because of illness.

This the first meeting of 2022 between the teams. The Padres won the season series 4-3 last year.

Padres vs Pirates Last 10 Meetings

Padres vs Pirates Prediction

All signs point to backing Darvish and fading Thompson in this matchup. Thus, the Padres are the way to go, even at a big number.

Pick: Padres ML (-165)