Boston Red Sox vs San Diego Padres Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/20/2023

Game Time: 10:10 pm ET, Saturday, May 20, 2023

Venue:  Petco Park, San Diego, CA

Where to Watch:  MLB Network

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox +110, Padres -130; Over/Under:  8 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox +110, Padres -130; Over/Under:  8 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Red Sox +110, Padres -130; Over/Under:  8 runs

Boston Red Sox:  24-20 (5th place, AL East)

San Diego Padres:  20-24 (4th place, NL West)

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Sean Murphy is on a HOT STREAK in the MLB: 44-31 (+$8.5K) start this season! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

Boston Red Sox:  4-6 last 10

San Diego Padres:  2-8 last 10

The Red Sox are entering this game on a 2 game winning streak after winning their 3-game series against the Seattle Mariners 2-1. They enter this game with a 24-20 record overall and have a road record of 9-9. This is the 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Padres on Saturday with the series opener still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 3rd in the MLB with a .793 OPS. James Paxton is their starting pitcher on Friday while Chris Sale is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 3-2 with a 5.40 ERA this season. His team won 2 of their last 3 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 1 ER, 1 HR, and 1 BB with 9 Ks on 3 hits through 8 IP against the St Louis Cardinals.

The Padres are entering this game on a 2 game losing streak after losing their 3-game series against the Kansas City Royals 2-1. They enter this game with a 20-24 record overall and have a home record of 11-13. This is the 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Red Sox on Saturday with the 1st game of this series still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 22nd in the MLB with a .699 OPS. Blake Snell is their starting pitcher on Friday while Joe Musgrove is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 1-1 with a 6.63 ERA this season. His team lost their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last start, he allowed 4 earned runs, 1 homer, and 4 BB with 5 strikeouts on 8 hits through 5.2 innings played against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The current betting odds have the Padres listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Padres are off to a terrible start this season as they have been struggling with their offense a lot in games and have one of the worst offenses in the league right now. They have Musgrove starting in this game and he hasn't been great this season, but he also hasn't had many starts and was a very reliable starter for them last season so he will find his groove soon enough and start pitching a lot better in his starts. The Red Sox have been the complete opposite with their offense as they have one of the best offenses in the league but they are still barely over .500 by only 4 games and a lot of it has to do with how bad their pitching has been. Their bullpen is terrible and they have Sale starting in this game too who has done nothing but struggle and give up a ton of runs in his starts since coming back from his injury that kept him out most of the season last year. Musgrove is going to have a much better start here while Sale continues to struggle and the Padres will be able to bounce back with a nice home win. The best way to place a bet here is on the Padres to win this game.

Red Sox Padres Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Saturday, May 20, 2023 (10:10 pm ET start time) is Padres 6 Red Sox 2.

Don't miss our champion handicappers free picks, best bets, and expert baseball picks today.  And if you enjoyed this Boston Red Sox San Diego Padres prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily MLB projections and previews.

Boston Red Sox: 24-20 (+7 units) on the moneyline in all games. 30-24 (+6.4 units) on the moneyline in an inter-league game. 29-13 OVER in all games. 20-6 OVER against right-handed starters.

San Diego Padres: 6-14 (-14.8 units) on the moneyline when the total is 8 to 8.5. 9-13 (-11.8 units) on the moneyline in home games. JOE MUSGROVE is 19-10 OVER at home when the total is 7 to 8.5 and 12-5 OVER in an inter-league game.

Boston Red Sox:  A. Verdugo (RF) Prob Fri - Groin. A. Duvall (LF) Early June - Wrist. J. Schreiber (RP) Out indefinitely - Back. K. Crawford (SP) Prob Fri - Hamstring. C. Arroyo (3B) Late May - Hamstring. G. Whitlock (RP) Late May - Elbow. W. Mills (RP) Late May - Elbow. Y. Chang (3B) Mid June - Wrist. Z. Kelly (RP) Early Sept - Elbow. A. Mondesi (SS) Out indefinitely - Knee. T. Story (2B) Mid July - Elbow.

San Diego Padres:  M. Machado (3B) Ques Fri - Hand. S. Lugo (RP) Out Indefinitely - Calf. D. Pomeranz (RP) Out indefinitely - Forearm. L. Campusano (C) Early July - Thumb. J. Castillo (RP) Late May - Shoulder. J. Azocar (RF) Late May - Elbow. A. Morejon (SP) Late May - Elbow. R. Suarez (SP) Out indefinitely - Arm. N. Crismatt (RP) Out indefinitely - Hip. E. Rosario (2B) Mid July - Ankle.

“We talked a little about him. Everybody feels that he can hit. He put some good at-bats today. He played some good defense. He’s been really good for us.” - Alex Cora on Pablo Reyes after his team’s win against the Mariners in their game on Wednesday.

“I don’t blame them. We’re not playing well right now. There’s an expectation that we had coming into the season and they expect us to go out there and win every single game. I think collectively as a group we’ve got to go out there and be better as a group. We’ve got to trust the process. Things really aren’t really rolling our way right now, at all.” - Manny Machado after their loss against the Royals in their game on Wednesday.

Alex Verdugo (L) RF

Justin Turner (R) 1B

Rob Refsnyder (R) LF

Rafael Devers (L) 3B

Masataka Yoshida (L) DH

Enrique Hernandez (R) SS

Pablo Reyes (R) 2B

Jarren Duran (L) CF

Connor Wong (R) C

Xander Bogaerts (R) SS

Jake Cronenworth (L) 1B

Fernando Tatis Jr. (R) RF

Juan Soto (L) LF

Matt Carpenter (L) DH

Ha-Seong Kim (R) 3B

Rougned Odor (L) 2B

Trent Grisham (L) CF

Austin Nola (R) C

Batting Average:  Adam Duvall (.455)

Hits:  Alex Verdugo (51)

Home Runs:  Rafael Devers (11)

RBI:  Rafael Devers (40)

Stolen Bases:  Jarren Duran (7)

Wins:  Brayan Bello (3)

Saves:  Kenley Jansen (9)

ERA:  Justin Garza (0.00)

Batting Average:  Xander Bogaerts (.275)

Hits:  Xander Bogaerts (44)

Home Runs:  Juan Soto (7)

RBI:  Juan Soto (20)

Stolen Bases:  Ha-Seong Kim (6)

Wins:  Michael Wacha (4)

Saves:  Josh Hader (11)

ERA:  Tom Cosgrove (0.00)

Managers:

Boston Red Sox: Alex Cora (5th season, 3rd consecutive)

San Diego Padres: Bob Melvin (2nd season)