Philadelphia comes into this game losing its last two games. Before the All-Star break, the Padres were hitting .226 with a .713 OPS over their last seven days. Since June, Philadelphia was hitting .256 with a .717 OPS against righties at home. The Padres Yu Darvish owns a 6.16 road ERA and San Diego has lost five of his last eight starts.

The Padres ended the first half of the season on a 5-1 run. Their offense is starting to click and they are poised to make a run at a playoff spot. Yu Darvish has had success against the Phillies in his career. Darvish has a 2.23 ERA in his career against the Phillies. Cristopher Sanchez is not the starter I expected the Phillies to have after the All-Star break. The Padres have had success against lefties and that should continue in this game. Take the Padres.

The Padres are six games under .500 on the road yet favored here? Can't say I get that, especially with Yu Darvish holding a 6.16 road ERA. The Phils know him pretty well from two starts in the 2022 NLCS. I assume Bryce Harper will be in the Philly lineup. He wasn't on Sunday due to a minor elbow thing but with all this time off. Cristopher Sanchez (2.84 ERA) is pitching way above his paygrade, but we'll stick with him for at least one more outing -- and not like we need him to win. Philadelphia probably should be slightly favored and might end up being in that role, so I'll gladly take the 1.5-run head start.

What’s going on with Yu Darvish? The Padres have lost his last three starts and they were all his fault. He’s allowed a total of 17 runs between his last four starts. Cristopher Sanchez has looked good in all five of his starts (all Under) and has been super sharp in his last two allowing one run in each. His arrival to the Phillies rotation coincides with them winning 23 of their last 32. I’m on the Phillies to win.