Padres at Phillies 8/18/19 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Sunday afternoon MLB action, the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies will conclude their weekend series from Citizens Bank Park. Last night, San Diego erased an early three-run deficit to rally for a 5-3 road victory. Eric Hosmer collected three hits and scored a run for the Padres, who are eight games below .500 overall.

Twenty-six year old lefty Joey Lucchesi (7-7 4.25 ERA) will head to the hill for the Padres in this contest. San Diego has lost each of Lucchesi’s last six starts and he has given up 18 runs over his last 31 frames. The Philadelphia Phillies are five games above .500 overall and one of six tightly grouped teams battling for two National League Wild Card spots. On Saturday, Philadelphia struck out nine times and drew just one walk. J.T. Realmuto connected on his 19th home run of the season for the Phillies, who are eight games back in the NL East Division race.

Thirty-six year old southpaw Jason Vargas (6-6 4.03 ERA) will make his fourth start as a member of the Phillies. Vargas, who was traded from the Mets, has allowed eight runs over his last 17 plus innings.