Gore Will Take Down Padres For At Least His Portion Of The Game

Nationals vs. Padres, 4:10 ET

A couple years ago, the two teams in this game made a big trade. The Washington Nationals sent over Juan Soto to the Padres. It was at this point that I started to believe the Padres were going to be the best team in the National League and probably the best team in baseball. The Nationals were never expected to try and resign Soto, so they figured, eh, let's get some value for him. Makes total sense. The Padres were in win-now mode. Soto is gone, the Nationals are still looking to see the talent from that trade make a difference in the big leagues. Let's take a look at how we can bet this game between the Nationals and Padres.

The Nationals are having a better-ish season than I expected to get out of them. Did I just make up a word to describe a team's season? You bet I did. I didn't think they would be good, and they are 14 games under .500, somehow last in the division behind even the Marlins. However, I feel like they are at least competitive in the majority of games and that they  look like they are making progress from where they were last season. They should have enough talent in the minors to be competitive in the next few years, but who knows. Prospects flame out and other things happen. For today, they have one of their pitchers that they've been able to rely on this season as MacKenzie Gore takes the mound. Despite a 3-7 record, he has a 3.19 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Gore was on a stretch of five straight quality starts before last week when he allowed five earned to the Dodgers. To be honest, the has been rather reliable with six innings or more in 12 of his 16 outings. 

Apr 16, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (27) delivers during the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Padres are having a worse-ish season than I expected, but to be honest, my expectations for this team were always too high. For whatever reason, the Dodgers seem to get great talent and it all works together. Perhaps that is a testament to Dave Roberts or something? I really have no idea, but a team that has had Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Xander Boegarts, Juan Soto, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Luis Arraez in the past few seasons has very little success to show for itself. Injuries and suspensions have caused some issues over the years, but I still wouldn't want to face them in the playoffs if they make it. Today they send out Nick Pivetta to the hill. Pivetta is 7-2 with a 3.64 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Pivetta has been solid this year, but not quite reliable lately. Looking at this month, he has an ERA of 6.23, having allowed four or more earned runs in three of his four starts. Prior to this month, he had allowed 13 earned runs in nine starts (I'm excluding a six run outing at Coors Field). Nationals hitters have been pretty good against Pivetta, too. They are 10-for-38 against him. 

Do I think the Nationals are a better team than the Padres? Not even close, but I do think that in baseball, pretty much any team can win on any given day. The Padres don't perform as well as I hope for their team to do. I am going to back the Nationals through five in this rubber match. I think Gore is in better form at the moment. Perhaps Pivetta will figure out whatever issue is causing him to give up so many runs, but I'm hoping that doesn't come today. Back the Nationals through five. 

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