Back to back victories over the New York Yankees, has given the Philadelphia Phillies (26-47, -$1,326) a bit of confidence as they get set to head into a three game set with the division leading Washington Nationals (38-33, -$159).
This series between the first and last place squad will commence on Friday.
ODDS ANALYSIS
With two straight victories over the Yankees, the Phillies have now won three straight games for the first time since a six game winning streak was snapped on May 19 against the Colorado Rockies.
Even with these three straight wins, the Phillies are just 9-24 since their last winning streak of three games or greater.
The Nationals haven’t been nearly as bad as Philadelphia, nobody has, but despite sitting atop the NL East, Washington has been inconsistent and struggled from time to time to find offense outside of Bryce Harper.
Still, Washington has won four straight and seven of their last ten.
Overall, the Nats have the head-to-head edge this year over the Phillies, but Philadelphia has held its own, winning four of ten.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Aaron Harang had a solid start to the season, but has slipped a bit of late. He will look to regain his form against the Nationals on Friday, but will have his work cut out for him as he will need to keep pace with Max Scherzer.
Scherzer was literally unhittable his last time out, tossing a no-hitter on the heels of a one-hitter. Over his last two starts, he has thrown 18 innings, totaling 225 pitches, allowing 1 hit, one walk and hitting one batter while also striking out 26.
Those back to back dominant outings came on the heels of his worst two starts of the season, allowing four runs in each.
All in all, the 30-year old ace right-hander is just 8-5, but has a 1.76 ERA in A league leading 102 1/3 innings of work. Scherzer also leads the league in FIP (1.96), WHIP (0.801) and strike out to walk ratio at a staggering 8.79, having walked just 14 batters while punching out 123.
Of course, Harang hasn’t been nearly as good. He has generally kept his team in the game and been a solid back end type arm, but has recorded the loss in each of his last four starts, posting a 7.61 ERA and 1.479 WHIP, allowing opposing batters to have a .888 OPS against him.
On the year, the veteran righty is just 4-9 despite a formidable 3.41 ERA and 1.116 WHIP in his 15 starts.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Scherzer actually had a perfect game going with two outs in the ninth inning before hitting a batter. His manager, Matt Williams, was particularly impressed with how Scherzer handled himself after that, saying:
“He hit him with the baseball. It’s difficult when that happens, but he settled back in and got the last guy out, which shows his mental fortitude that he was able to make a pitch and get the last guy for the no-hitter.”
LIVE/SITUATIONAL BETTING
There is no better pitcher-hitter combination in baseball right now than Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper in Washington.
After a couple years producing below expectations, Harper has hit like gang-busters this year, proving all those willing to label him a bust wrong.
With his team suffering numerous injuries to guys like Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth, Harper has led the team to the seventh most runs in baseball (314) as he is leading the league in slugging at .722, OPS at 1.189 and runs at 52.
With so much of the offense relying on a single player, it is bound to be inconsistent, though the Nats do have others to support him, even with Zimmerman and Werth out and Ian Desmond (.606 OPS) yet to find his swing.
Denard Span has been great at the top of the order with a .357 OBP while Yunel Escobar (.789 OPS) and Danny Espinosa (.800 OPS) have really stepped up.
On the other side, the Phillies have little offense to speak of with a collection of has-beens and never-weres. That said, there is one exception: Maikel Franco.
Franco, in just 37 games is second on the team in RBIs with 29 and home runs with 10, just behind Ryan Howard whose .227 average offsets some of the power he’s provided.
Franco recorded 10 of his RBIs over the team’s last two games as the Phillies have been able to, somewhat surprisingly, take advantage of Yankees pitching.
Despite the team’s recent offensive success, the overall numbers show it will not continue as the team has just one player with an OPS+ over 100 (Franco at 164) and just three more with at least 150 at bats and an OPS+ north of 90.
PROP TALK
I would be hesitant to bet on any Phillies player given how hot Scherzer is right now, but if you want to go out on a limb, look at Ben Revere. The scrappy speedster is 7 for 21 lifetime against the big righty.
On the other side, you pretty much have to pick Bryce Harper. Not only is he leading the world in OPS, but he’s had a great deal of success against Harang, going 10 for 22 with a home run. In addition, Danny Espinosa is 6 for 14 and Denard Span is 5 for 16.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Scherzer against the Phillies is about all you need to know in this one. I would not be surprised if Max pitches his third straight shutout. I would not bank on it since that is very hard to accomplish, but given the Phillies’ offense, they will undoubtedly struggle to put anything on the board.
The Nats have the edge in every facet of the game from offense to their starter to the bullpen and the fielding. They’ve scored 72 more runs, committed nine fewer errors and have a team ERA of 3.79 compared to 4.50 in the pen.
Washington 5, Philadelphia 1
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Washington Nationals versus the Philadelphia Phillies will commence Friday, June 26, 2015, at 7:05 p.m. ET at Citizens Bank Park.
