San Diego Padres Face Cleveland Guardians in Interleague Matchup at Progressive Field
As the clock strikes 7:10 PM ET, baseball fans will be treated to a thrilling interleague matchup between the San Diego Padres and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Both teams come into this game with hopes of asserting their dominance and grabbing a crucial win.
The Guardians enter tonight's contest as money line favorites at -139, while the Padres are positioned as underdogs with a money line of +118. The Padres, currently holding a 50-49 record, stand at 3rd place in the NL West, while the Guardians lead the AL Central with an impressive 58-37 mark.
Starting Pitchers
The match will see Matt Waldron take the mound for the Padres. Waldron has been a workhorse this season, starting 19 games and posting a 5-8 record with a respectable 3.71 ERA. Opponents have managed a batting average of just .225 against him, with a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.17. Despite these solid stats, Waldron is coming off a rough outing on July 12th, where he gave up four earned runs.
On the other side, the Guardians will rely on Tanner Bibee. Bibee holds a 7-4 record with a 3.77 ERA over his 19 starts. He boasts a slightly better WHIP of 1.12 compared to Waldron and has delivered seven quality starts. Bibee has also been a strikeout machine, averaging 10.54 strikeouts per nine innings and accumulating 123 strikeouts in total. Despite giving up four earned runs in his last outing against the Tigers, Bibee had won two consecutive starts before that performance.
Padres’ Recent Performance
The Padres come into this matchup licking their wounds from a 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves. In that game, Randy Vasquez started and took the loss after pitching five innings and allowing four runs on four hits. The Padres’ bullpen didn't fare much better, allowing an additional two runs in the eighth inning. With this loss, the Padres hold a season record of 50-49 and sit seven games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Their record within the division stands at 15-17, and they have lost two of their last three games against the Braves. The Padres have also struggled as underdogs, dropping their last two games in such a position and holding a 21-20 overall record when not favored.
When playing away from home, the Padres have a commendable record of 24-21, but they will need to find a way to overcome their recent struggles to beat the Guardians. Additional recent concerns include their record as underdogs and their tendency to lose close games, demonstrated by their performance against top-tier teams like the Braves.
Guardians’ Recent Performance
The Guardians have not been in the best form recently either, sporting a 1-4 record in their last five home games and a 4-6 record in their previous ten games overall. Their most recent series concluded with a 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, Ben Lively struck out the side in the first inning but later gave up two runs in the third, contributing to the Guardians' defeat. Despite these setbacks, the Guardians still lead their division and will look to return to form against the Padres.
Offensively, the Guardians average 4.8 runs per game and have a team batting average of .243, ranking them 11th in the majors. They also rank 10th in home runs, with notable contributions from Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr., who are tied for the team lead with 14 home runs each. Profar, in particular, has been hot recently, going 7/22 in his last seven games and adding 59 RBIs to his season tally.
Manny Machado of the Padres is currently on a three-game hitting streak, though his batting average over the past week is a modest .231. Meanwhile, the Guardians' José Ramírez and Josh Naylor have been offensive standouts, with Ramírez sitting second in the league with 77 RBIs and Naylor close behind with 70. Ramírez has also hit 23 home runs and is batting .271 on the season.
Game Predictions
For tonight's game, the over/under line is set at 7.5 runs. Cleveland games have averaged 8.7 runs per game, while Padres games have averaged 8.9. Notably, 58.6% of Padres games and 66.3% of Guardians games have gone over the line this season.
In terms of predictions, Cleveland is favored to secure a narrow 6-5 victory. Both teams are projected to notch nine hits each, with Tanner Bibee expected to finish with six strikeouts and Matt Waldron projected for five. Ultimately, Bibee is anticipated to yield fewer earned runs than Waldron, which could be the difference-maker in this tightly contested matchup.