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Phillies Listed as -145 Favorite to Win Cubs Series
By Joe Tansey
Published:
The Philadelphia Phillies have lost four of their last five road series.
In fact, the series win over the Detroit Tigers was the only road series victory in the last month for the Phils.
Of course, the Phils were affected by the travel back from London that took them immediately to Boston and Baltimore, but it’s still stunning to see that statistic for one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. It also drives home just how strong the Phils have been inside Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies are understandably a -145 favorite to win the midweek series against the Chicago Cubs, given their recent numbers on the road.
A series victory, even without Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, is the expectation in the Windy City given how poor the Cubs have looked recently.
They come into the series with a 3-7 mark over their last 10 games. They’ve scored one or two runs in six of their last seven defeats.
Translation: You think the Phils have some issues without Schwarber and Harper, well guess what, it could be a whole hell of a lot worse.
Tuesday’s opener is going to be a total crap shoot if you’re looking at this game on sportsbook apps in PA or New Jersey sports betting apps. Michael Mercado is making his first start in the No. 5 spot. The Cubs may be the perfect opponent to help ease the nerves because their offense has been pitiful lately.
The Cubs are throwing Hayden Wesneski, who has flipped between the rotation and bullpen for most of the year. He’s an equal foe to Mercado.
Wednesday’s matchup could be a low-scoring battle with Zack Wheeler opposing Shota Imanaga in a clash that could adjust the National League Cy Young market (more on that tomorrow).
It’s hard to believe Cristopher Sanchez won’t pitch a gem on Thursday after his last two starts. Sure, Sanchez’s road splits are worse than his home splits, but he’s one of the best pitchers in the majors right now and it’ll be hard to see him regress against the Cubs offense.
All the Phillies probably have to do is score four or five runs to get past the Cubs twice this week. It’s a bare minimum expectation, and one that doesn’t fly against the top teams in the league, but it’s the perfect series to win with pitching, and maybe some small ball from the bottom of the order, to gain a little extra confidence going into the weekend series with the Atlanta Braves.
Joe Tansey writes sports betting posts for Crossing Broad and also covers the Philadelphia Union for his Substack site, Union Soccer Blog.