The Padres have been playing great baseball, winning their last three series and entering a rubber match with the Dodgers in tonight's game, and should keep it close in this one.
Tim stauffer has pitched fairly well this season, putting together a 3.76 ERA over the course of 10 starts. Six of his 10 starts have resulted in 2 or less runs given up, two have resulted in three runs, and two have resulted in four; so despite not getting any run support this season, Stauffer has given his team a chance to win in just about every trip he's made to the mound.
After starting the year off 1-6 in his first eight games, the Padres finally gave him some run support in two straight wins over the Braves and the Nationals.
Tonight, Stauffer faces Hiroki Kuroda, who will be making his first start since August 15th coming off of the DL. Kuroda was pitching well before his DL stint, and on the season is 5-5 with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.
The Padres have been playing good baseball of late, winning eight of their last 11 games en route to series wins on the road against the Braves and Marlins and a home sweep of the Nationals. Tonight's rubber game against the Dodgers will give the Padres the chance to win their fourth straight series, and they seem to be flourishing in the spoiler role.
If Kuroda pitches like he was before he hit the DL, this looks like it will be a low scoring pitcher's duel type of game. If he has a bit of rust, the Padres might be able to jump out to an early lead. Either way, To get the run and a half so cheap feels like a steal here, because there is a good chance that if they do this this game, it'll be a close one late.
The Pick: San Diego Padres +1.5, -105