Wednesday afternoon in MLB will see the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the rubber match of their 3 games series. The game is scheduled for a 3.40 pm start time and it will be televised live on TCN. Currently the odds have Arizona favored at -105, while the Phils are dogs of -101 . The total is sitting at 8 runs for the contest.
Free Analysis: After winning the last five NL East titles, the Phillies are tied for last at 8-10. But they might be snapping out of it. The Phillies can win their first series at Chase Field in three years with a second straight victory over the Diamondbacks Tonight. Philadelphia was second-to-last in the majors with 48 runs before it matched a season high to even the three-game set in Arizona with an 8-5 victory Tuesday. Shane Victorino homered for the second time in as many games and Hunter Pence snapped an 0-for-16 slump with a two-run shot to help the Phillies snap a three-game skid. Laynce Nix also had a two-run homer for Philadelphia, which will try to win back-to-back games at Arizona for the first time since July 27-28, 2009. Victorino, meanwhile, has hit three of his four home runs this season in his last five games and Ty Wigginton is batting .353 during a 10-game hitting streak. Cole Hamels (2-1, 2.95 ERA) has gotten progressively better in his three starts, throwing 61 of 92 pitches for strikes in his last outing, a six-inning stint against the Padres. Hamels has fanned 23 batters and walked only two this season. In six career starts vs. Arizona, Hamels is 3-1 with a 3.72 ERA. Arizona has lost six of eight after a strong start. The front end of the rotation is outstanding, but the back end is shaky at best. Star outfielder B.J. Upton is off to a slow start following his thumb injury, batting .239 with three RBIs in 46 at-bats. Jason Kubel has never faced Hamels, but the left fielder homered for the third time in four games Tuesday. Kubel has hit .367 with those three homers and six RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak. The Diamondbacks have averaged 7.9 hits per game to date this season, less than the Phillies hitters have managed (8.4 per nine innings). Trevor Cahill will try to rebound today from his first loss after allowing just two runs over his first two starts with the Diamondbacks. Those outings spanned 13 1/3 innings, but the righty was tagged for seven runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings on Friday versus Atlanta. Cahill, 24, has faced the Phillies once before and he earned a win by allowing just a run on three hits and three walks over 7 2/3 innings. The Phillies and Diamondbacks split six encounters last season, with each team winning twice at home.
Free Pick: I like this pitching matchup between Hamels and Cahill and it should produce a low scoring games. The Phils offense did come alive last night, but they have rarely done it BB games this year, plus Trevor Cahill is a much tougher pitcher to face than Collmenter was. Trevor has a 2,.84 ERA in his 3 starts this year and he did struggle in his 1st home start in a D-Backs uniform, but I believe he will bounce back nicely vs this erratic Phils offense. Trevor has a 1.17 ERA in 1 start vs the Phils and a 1.23 ERA in 1 day start this year, while in 34 career day start he has a 3.31 ERA, compared to a 4.19 ERA in 65 night starts. Cole Hamels could be the Ace of many a staff in MLB , but because of Lee and Halladay he is 3rd on this staff. Cole has a 2.95 ERA to start the year and a 1.50 ERA in his lone road start. Cole does have a 3.71 ERA in this park and a 3.97 ERA in 62 career day starts, but he also has a 3.11 ERA when he starts with Ruiz behind the plate and he will be facing an Arizona team that has been erratic on offense as well and a team that has hit just .217 vs lefties on the year, compared to .241 vs righties. Both Pitchers are solid and should have good games vs these erratic offenses, which should keep this one around 6 runs at most.
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Free Picks: Phillies at Diamondbacks Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Phillies have weak hitting and strong pitching and Bryan Leonard's True Runs strategy explained in more detail plus other factors MLB bettors need to know about Phillies at Diamondbacks (Wednesday, April 25, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Scott Spreitzer.