The Philadelphia Phillies are after their fourth series sweep of the young 2024 season on Monday afternoon. That’s a remarkable achievement for any team with one full month gone in the season, regardless of which opponents it plays.

The Phils are heavily favored at -205 behind Zack Wheeler to complete a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants.

A win would give the Phils their second six-game winning streak of the season, yet another milestone.

They’ll have to get the win against Mason Black in his Major League debut. It’s a cool baseball story. Black is from the Scranton area and starred at Lehigh, so I would assume there’s a large section somewhere at Citizens Bank Park with Giants jerseys.

Black posted a 1.01 ERA and held batters to a .178 average over six starts in Triple-A this season. He may be tough to figure out on the first turn through the order because none of the Phillies hitters have seen him in person.

The newness of Black’s approach, combined with Wheeler’s current form (he’s allowed one earned run in the last three starts) could make the under on the early-game props the way to go. The no run first inning (NRFI) is -125, the yes run first inning (YRFI) sits at -105. The first five innings over/under is set at 3.5 runs.

Of course, the Phillies are more than capable of chasing the Giants’ debutante, but it’s worth noting the Phils have the 10th-most strikeouts in the majors and they’re fourth in strikeouts over the last seven days with 60.

Black produced at least five strikeouts in five of his six Triple-A starts. The over of 4.5 strikeouts for Black could be in play at Pennsylvania sportsbook apps and New Jersey sportsbook apps, considering the Phillies’ current strikeout trend. Five Phillies starters are already over 30 Ks for the season and Kyle Schwarber has a whopping 52 punchouts.

You would think a left-handed power hitter, like Schwarber, would have great numbers against righties, but he’s hitting .127 against them so far in 2024. He’s killing lefties with a .316 average.

Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto are the best bats to trust from a betting perspective on Monday. Bohm’s hitting streak is up to 18 games and Realmuto is coming off a three-hit Sunday night. I would put Bryce Harper in a hit parlay with Bohm if Garrett Stubbs catches in the afternoon game after a night game. Harper has a hit in three of the last four games and homered on Sunday night.

As for Wheeler, I would look into his outs (18.5) and strikeouts (7.5) props. He only pitched past the sixth twice and struck out eight or more in four of six starts, but he’s going up against a Giants lineup that is hitting .206 in the last week and ranks 19th in the majors in hits against right-handed pitchers.