Sports Betting Overview
Baseball betting experts give the Atlanta Braves a lot of credit. It would be difficult for almost any team to keep pace with the best team in baseball. But the MLB standings show the Braves only three games off the pace being made by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Recent MLB scores show the Braves on quite a roll while the Phillies have hit a skid. Atlanta is closing the gap with Philadelphia, and a head-to-head series is exactly what the Braves need to finally catch the hottest team in the major leagues.
The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to see why Cliff Lee cannot find a permanent home in MLB. Lee is brilliant most of the time, but he hits patches where he cannot buy a win. In this series, the Phillies need every one of their big name pitchers to step up, and that includes the struggling Lee. Luckily for the Phillies, Lee does not pitch in this series opener. Philadelphia is playing good baseball lately, but this is a door of opportunity that the Braves are desperately going to try and walk through. The Phillies will need to play their best baseball of the season to fend off the Braves in this series opener.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are currently riding a three-game winning streak. Starting for the Braves in this game is Brandon Beachy. Beachy has a 3-1 record and a 3.23 ERA this season. He is young, but he is showing signs of promise. One of the drawbacks to being young in MLB is the inability to finish a game. In May, Beachy had a stretch of four games where he did not get the decision. That included one game where he gave up three earned runs in two innings and did not answer the bell for the third inning. Beachy has had a good stretch in late June and early July. He is 2-0 in that span, and only gave up two earned runs total in his two wins. He is getting better, and the Phillies line-up will be quite a challenge for the youngster.
Philadelphia Phillies
It is Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay’s turn in the rotation as he starts this series opening game. Halladay is being Halladay this season with an 11-3 record and a 2.44 ERA. The guy is a machine, and he looks to be a Cy Young candidate again this year. Halladay has not lost since May 15th when he gave up three earned runs in a loss to the Braves. Halladay had a rough finish to May, giving up 21 hits and seven earned runs in his last two starts of the month. But he has been on track ever since and has put up extremely impressive numbers for June and July. Halladay has not faced the Braves since Atlanta beat him on May 15th, and that could play into the outcome of this game.
The Bottom Line
This may be a very good game for the first few innings. But, eventually, the Phillies will get to the young Atlanta pitcher and Halladay will continue the dominance he started in June. The Braves will win a game or two in this series and pull closer to the Phillies in the standings. Atlanta just won’t win this game.
Pick: Philadelphia Phillies
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