Padres vs Braves: Expert Predictions for Wild Card Series

The San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves will meet in the National League Wild Card series starting Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The Padres and Braves will play a best-of-three series, with the winner getting to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Divisional Series.

The Padres are sending right-handed pitcher Michael King on the mound in Game 1 against right-handed pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver.

In Game 2, right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove is facing off against left-handed pitcher Max Fried.

In Game 3, the Padres are sending right-handed pitcher Dylan Cease to the mound. The Braves have not yet announced their potential starter.

Game 1 of the Padres vs. Braves Wild Card series on Tuesday starts at 5:38 p.m. PT/8:38 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on ESPN.

Game 2 of the Padres vs. Braves Wild Card series on Wednesday starts at 5:38 p.m. PT/8:38 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The potential Game 3 of the Padres vs. Braves Wild Card series on Thursday starts at 4:08 p.m. PT/7:08 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Padres have the edge in this series for a handful of reasons. The Padres enter the matchup much healthier, and are also significantly more well-rested than Atlanta. The Braves had to play a doubleheader on Monday against the New York Mets to clinch a postseason berth.

The Braves are trying to piece a rotation together, and are doing it without their ace Chris Sale, the heavy favorite to win the NL Cy Young award. Sale won't pitch this series as he's been dealing with back spasms. He was left off the postseason roster.

As for the Padres, they enter the series as one of baseball's hottest teams, and have their three best pitchers from this season slated to start.

The Padres will take Game 1 in convincing 7-3 fashion. Then, the Braves will fight back in Game 2 thanks to a strong start from Fried en route to a 5-3 win. However, it will be the Padres, behind Cease, taking Game 3 and moving onto the NLDS, winning the win-or-go-home Game 3 by a score of 4-2.

That will set up a rematch of the 2022 NLDS against the division-rival Dodgers, who the Padres beat eight out of 13 times this regular season.