Monday night baseball and we will see the Atlanta Braves take on the Philadelphia Phillies in game 1 of their 4 game series from Citizen Bank Field in Philadelphia, PA. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Current Odds
Atlanta -121
Philadelphia +112
Over/ Under: 8 U -115
Analysis: The Atlanta Braves come in off an impressive 3 game home sweep of the Washington Nationals and they capped off the sweep with a 10-2 blowout win yesterday. The Braves now come in at 8-4 overall, which includes a 4-2 mark on the road. The Braves bats are starting to wake up a bit as they scored 23 runs in the 3 game series with Washington. Overall now the Braves are 20th in the league in runs scored (3.83 rpg) and 16th in hitting (.246). The power has been there for this team as they have hit 15 homers thus far, which is 5th in the league. Freedie Freeman leads the team in both HRs (4) and RBIs (10). Pitching has been a plus for this team as they come in ranked 3rd in ERA (2.44) and 5th in WHIP (1.18). Ervin Santana gets the ball for the Braves and he has had just 1 start on the year, but it was a good one, as he pitched 8 shutout innings and gave up just 3 hits to the Mets in a 4-3 win.
For the Phils, they come in off a 3 game sweep of the Marlins. The Phils had lost 6 of their last 8 games heading into that series, but the sweep now has them at 6-6 on the year, including 3-3 at home. Chase utley is the Phils hottest hitter in the early going, as he is hitting .500 through the first two weeks of the season after going 7-for-12 against Miami with four RBIs and three doubles. Tony Gwynn Jr. is also hot, going 5-for-10 in his past two games. This is what happens when a fully healthy Phils offense takes the field, as they are 3rd in the league in hitting (.276) and 10th in scoring (4.67 rpg). The Pitching has not been their for them as they are 22nd in ERA (4.22) and 27th in WHIP (1.47). Taking the hill for the Phils tonight is Roberto Hernandez, who is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in 2 starts this year.
Pick: Let's go with the over in this one. The Phils are starting to hit the ball as Utley and Howard are both healthy and they are getting other contributions from other players as well, like Gwynn, Revere, Byrd and Rollins. The Phils just put up 15 runs in the 3 games vs a solid Miami staff and should have similar success tonight vs Ervin Santana who has a career 4.73 ERA on the road. For the Braves, they are also starting to hit the ball well, having just scored 23 runs in their 3 games series with the Nationals and that should continue tonight vs Roberto Hernandez, who had a 4.89 ERA last year and has started out with a 4.35 ERA this year. He is not all that good and should give up some runs in this one. Both offenses should have a good showing tonight.
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Handicapping Tips: Baseball Correlations
Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com gives some handicapping tips for betting runlines and correlated parlays in major league baseball.