Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Diego Padres Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 4/7/26, 3:35 PM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 4/8/26 at 9:46 AM in MLB Picks

Pittsburgh (6-4) had its 5-game winning streak snapped on Monday when they were defeated by the San Diego Padres (5-5). Bubba Chanlder of the Pirates was tagged for 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. On the contrary, German Marquez pitched well for the Padres and picked up the win after going 5 scoreless innings and scattering 6 hits. The teams meet again today for the 2nd game of the series.

This is the 2nd series of the East Coast trip for San Diego. They took 2 out of 3 games while in Boston over the weekend and are now primed to win this series as well. While they are in a good spot after winning the first game, they will have their hands full tonight. Nick Pivetta will be throwing for the Padres in this one. After getting lit up by the Tigers in his 1st start, he settled in against the Giants in his last outing. He is coming off the best season of his career, where he finished with a 13-5 record and an ERA of just 2.87. He is going to need to have his best stuff tonight against the Pirates, who will have their ace on the hill.

Paul Skenes is back for his 3rd start of the season. He was uncharacteristically run off before completing his 1st inning in the season opener, where he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. However, he looked a bit more like himself against the Reds earlier this month. He picked up the win after striking out 5 through 5 innings and allowing just 1 run.

Both lineups are going to have to treat every inning like it’s the 9th and find ways to manufacture runs against these two strong starting pitchers.