The NL West now has two legitimate World Series contenders…
…Caitlin Clark unfortunately isn’t one, and let’s prep a bit for Thursday Night Football.
Padres On A Mission
What Happened: Eight teams have already punched their ticket to the MLB postseason. But it’s the one who did so in a never-before-seen way that might just be headed towards a World Series title, despite its status (for now) as a wild card.
Why It Matters: The Padres clinching a playoff spot by turning a triple play (and thus avoiding putting the bat in Shohei Ohtani’s hands with a chance to re-take the lead for the Dodgers) feels like a moment we might look back on as the one that really illustrated how special this San Diego team is.
The Friars flipped a 50-49 pre-All Star Break record into a 41-17 finish. Trailing the Dodgers in the NL West by two games with head-to-head matchups again today and tomorrow, San Diego still has a shot at a divisional crown, but regardless of seed, it’s clearly a contender for a title this season.
On FanDuel, the Padres (+550) still trail the Dodgers (+155) and Phillies (+195) in the odds for NL favorites. They also have longer odds for a WS title behind those two, the Yankees, Astros, and Orioles.
But it feels like general manager A.J. Preller’s philosophy of “acquire as many stars as possible and make it work” is…finally starting to work? The lineup is stacked with sluggers, while a playoff rotation of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and Dylan Cease will be tough to beat in any series. For a team that had sub-40% odds to even make the playoffs at the Midsummer Classic, +1000 World Series ones almost feel like a steal.
What We’re Watching Today
Fever at Sun (7:30 PM ET) – Based on how Game 1 of this series went, anyone who wants to see Caitlin Clark play will have their last chance tonight. The Sun whomped Clark’s Fever 93-69 on Sunday, with the star rookie going just 2-of-13 from downtown. Its win-or-go-home for Indiana now.
Padres at Dodgers (10:10 PM ET) – After a triple play to clinch a playoff spot, what can these teams do as an encore? Hard to imagine, but we’ll definitely be watching to see.
The Look Ahead
Cowboys at Giants – The NFC East’s two 1-2 teams square off on Thursday Night Football this week in a crucial divisional matchup. Want to stay ahead of the curve? Here are some trends to be aware of:
💪 The Cowboys have dominated this matchup recently, having won 13 on their last 14 meetings with the Giants. A stunning 11 of those wins have been by at least a touchdown.
🤠 QB Dak Prescott loves him some Thursday Night Football, posting a 10-5 lifetime record in these games. Daniel Jones of the Giants probably isn’t as enthused to be playing on a non-Sunday; he’s 0-5 on Thursday nights.
🫣 The G-Men are 15-20-1 under head coach Brian Daboll, but they sure know how to cover for the man. New York’s record when an underdog of 3.5-9.5 points under Daboll is 12-3 ATS. As a home underdog, Dabs’ Giants are a solid 8-4 ATS.
🏃♂️ Look for Jones to run away from his problems tomorrow night…literally. He’s averaging 43 yards on the ground in five games against Dallas, who has proven through three weeks of this season that its rush defense is non-existent at the moment.
