And then there were eight. Eight teams remain in the hunt for the 2026 MLB World Series Championship, with the Division Series round of the ever-expanding MLB Playoffs starting on Saturday. Let’s find ourselves some winning plays before the action begins. Finally, we dive into the last series to start, with the San Diego Padres facing the Milwaukee Brewers.
Padres vs Brewers Division Series Predictions & Best Bets
#4 San Diego Padres vs #1 Milwaukee Brewers
Game 1: Saturday, 8:30 PM ET @ Milwaukee
Game 2: Sunday, 4:00 PM ET @ Milwaukee
Game 3: Tuesday, 9:30 PM ET @ San Diego
Game 4: Wednesday, 10:00 PM ET @ San Diego (if necessary)
Game 5: Friday, 4:30 PM ET @ Milwaukee (if necessary)
Something’s got to give. Two teams, the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers, who have underachieved in past playoffs, meet up in one of the National League Division Series. That means one of them has to advance to the Championship Series this season. Will it be the 91-win Padres or the 103-win (best in the majors) Brewers?
I guess that’s the question I’m supposed to answer in this article, so let’s dive into it. Regardless of who San Diego sends out to start Game 1 (Walker Buehler or Robbie Ray?), Milwaukee has the advantage because they are starting The Miz, Jacob Misiorowski, with his 1.80 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. So I like the Brewers to bank a win right out of the gate.
Milwaukee has the (tied for) best home record this season playing at American Family Field (55-26), but one of those losses did come to San Diego. Plus, while the Brewers have a formidable bullpen, no one can touch the Padres’, anchored by Mason Miller, which should help make up the gap between the two teams’ starting rotations, which favors the Brewers.
I didn’t know which side I was going to pick until I started writing this article, and now I’ve come down on the side of San Diego. An elite bullpen, unprecedented momentum that has carried over into the postseason, and veteran bats who have stepped their games up in postseasons present and past make the Padres, as a dog on the moneyline, my pick to win the series.
Everyone digs the long ball, so I’m going to make a home run prop play for this series as I have for the others. Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a dinger in Game 1 against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Round this year, giving him seven homers in only 18 postseason games. He may be the odds-on favorite to lead the series in homers, but those odds are still plenty long (+800) to make this a fun and potentially profitable play.
Best Bets: San Diego to win series (+150); Fernando Tatis Jr. to lead series in homers (+800)
Division Series Previews
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UFC PICKS – TAKE DOWN CORPORATE GAMBLING
