3% Take San Diego (#973) (action)

San Diego has been nothing short of excellent off a loss, 8-2 following their last ten defeats, dating back to the All Star Break.  They’ve lost back-2-back games in St Louis prior to their trip to Tampa for today’s game; a ‘bet-on’ spot for the road underdog.

Padres Manager Mike Shildt after Wednesday’s loss: “We had some opportunities.  It was one of those games.  The guys played their hearts out.  Pallante (the Cardinals starting pitcher) was able to dodge some bullets.”  Shildt after Thursday’s loss: "You don't have to win to have heart. These guys give everything they have. Their guys threw the ball pretty well. I love how the guys went about things this whole series. If there's a consolation prize, they battled their tails off every day. We had some opportunities, we just couldn't cash in."  Slugger Manny Machado: “This team's a grinding team. We don't strike out much. We put the ball in play. We're aggressive when we need to be aggressive, but you can't throw it down the zone because we could do some damage on it, too."

This is an action wager -- I want San Diego off a loss, period.  The Padres are a ‘positive momentum, positive team chemistry’ squad, worth backing off a defeat.  Tampa, on the other hand, just went 2-5 to close out their long West Coast road trip, now in a classic MLB ‘negative momentum’ spot - returning home off a long trip with a day off in between.  And it’s surely worth noting that the Rays can’t hit these days, producing three runs or less in eight of their last ten contests.  Live dog tonight!  Take the Padres.

Line Parameter: 3% at +100 or better, 2% at -101 or worse