Monday night baseball and we will see the Philadelphia Phillies take on the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego. First pitch is scheduled for a 10:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have Philadelphia listed as the favorite.
Current Odds
Philadelphia -120
San Diego +100
Over/ Under: 6.5 U -115
Analysis: The Philadelphia Phillies have gone on a few runs this season but every time they seem to get near .500 they take a step backwards. The Phillies are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 17-22 on the road this season. The third-place Phillies are four games below .500 and 7 1/2 behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East after being routed by the New York Mets on Sunday. Philadelphia's Domonic Brown has gone 13 contests without a home run after a stretch in which he went deep 11 times in a 15-game span. As a team the Phillies are hitting .251 with Michael Young hitting .287, Ryan Howard hitting .282, and Ben Revere hitting .276. The Phillies opponents are hitting .259 and the Philadelphia pitching staff has an ERA of 4.26 with the starters at 4.08 and the bullpen at 4.67. For game one at San Diego the Phillies start Cliff Lee who has easily been the Phillies best pitcher this season. Lee has posted a 1.97 ERA during a stretch of nine starts without a loss and hasn’t walked a batter in four of the outings. He is 1-2 with a 4.99 ERA in five career outings against San Diego, with the hitters combining for a .323 average. Lee is 6-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in nine road starts this season.
The San Diego Padres have lost their last two games in a row as they hit a speed bump in their quest to move up the standings. The Padres are 6-4 in their last 10 games, 24-16 at home this season, and they are 3.5 games back in the National League West. As a team the Padres are hitting .249 with Everth Cabrera hitting .305, Jedd Gyorkp hotting .284, and Chris Denorfria hitting .279. The Padres opponents are hitting .259 with the San Diego pitching staff having an ERA of 4.10 with the starters at 4.56 and the bullpen at 3.34. For game one against the Phillies the Padres start Eric Stults. Stults has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last five starts, posting a 2-1 record and 1.69 ERA during the stretch. He is 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six home outings, issuing just six walks in 40 1/3 innings. Stults has pitched just once against Philadelphia, a three-inning relief stint in 2007 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he gave up four runs and eight hits. San Diego is 9-4 against NL East teams this season.
Pick: Have to feel this is a good spot for the Phils to pick up a nice win. I know that they just played yesterday and must travel cross country, but the Phils will have Cliff Lee on the mound vs a Padres squad that is showing signs of all their offensive injuries catching up to them. Let's start off by saying that the Phils are 26-6 in their last 32 games played here and they bhave won 41 of their last 58 games overall in this series. Cliff Lee has struggled some with the Padres in his career, but he does have a 1.92 ERA in 2 starts in this park and he will be facing a Padres offense that scored just 2 run in this last 2 games, as their barrage of injuries are starting to take their toll. Maybin, Cabrera, Gyorko and Alonso were all regulars, but are on the DL and that will make it hard for this team to generate much offense in this one vs Lee, who is 6-1 with a 1.88 ERA on the road this year. The Phils went through their injury phase, but they are now healthy , with both Utley and Ruiz back, plus they have a very hot Ryan Howard on their side as well. If they stay healthy in the second half. they could be a scary offense for sure. Eric Stultz has had a fin year for the Padres, but he ust doesn't have enough offense behind him to get the win here vs Cliff Lee. Look for Philly to start their trip off wth a win vs a San Diego squad that just may be running out of gas.
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