Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies Game 1 Betting Pick
It’s game one of the best of three series between the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies. This is the fourth seed and fifth seed in the National League Playoffs.
Both teams come from the National League East. Philadelphia finished with a 90-72 record on the season, second in the division, 14 games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies went 49-32 at home this season.
For Miami, they needed strong play down the stretch to grab the 2nd of three wildcard spots. The Marlins went 84-77 and 38-42 on the road. The Philadelphia Phillies are -165 in this game over the Miami Marlins, with a total of 7.5 runs. The runline shows Philadelphia -1.5 (+135) and Miami +1.5 (-160).
Tuesday’s Pitching Matchup
It’s Jesus Luzardo for the Miami Marlins and Zack Wheeler for the Philadelphia Phillies. Luzardo is a 26-year-old lefthander who’s having a solid season. He comes into the game with a 10-9 record and a 3.63 earned run average.
Luzardo has struck out 208 batters in over 178 innings this season. The last time he pitched was on September 23rd, as he beat the Brewers 5-4, throwing five innings and allowing three hits.
For the Philadelphia Phillies, it’s veteran Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was on the World Series team of a season ago and a key cog in the rotation.
The 33-year-old is 13-6 on the season, with a 3.61 earned run average. Wheeler has also been a big strikeout pitcher. He has 212 punchouts in 192 innings. His last start was September 28th against the Pirates. In that game, Wheeler went four innings and allowed just a single run.
Offense Coming to Play
The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the best offenses in all of Major League Baseball. While the team statistics do not always indicate a lineup with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Nick Castellanos tell the final story.
Harper led the team with a .293 batting average, while Schwarber clubbed 47 home runs. Castellanos was one of the top RBI guys all season, with 106 on the season. The Phillies, as a team, hit .256 while scoring just shy of 800 runs.
For the Miami Marlins, they have the batting title winner from 2022 in the American League and this year’s National League winner. Luis Arraez hit .354 on the season to lead the charge.
The Marlins’ power numbers came from Jorge Soler, who jacked 36 home runs and drove in 75 runs. Bryan De La Cruz was the top RBI guy for the Marlins with 78. Miami hit .259 as a team, which ranked fourth in all of Major League Baseball. Driving in the runs was a problem at times for the Marlins, as only four teams scored fewer runs than them.
The Marlins head into the postseason as winners of five out of their last seven games. In those five wins, they are scoring more than five runs per game, and in the losses, just a run per game.
Phillies Get Off to Game 1 Quick Start
Wheeler is ready to go, and the Phillies have been waiting for this series to start for several weeks. Philadelphia is a battle-tested team.
The winner of this series gets the Atlanta Braves, and Philadelphia knows they can get them in a series like they did a season ago. Look for the Phillies to play with a ton of confidence and momentum and win this game.
The Phillies offense gets going, and they win the game. The betting pick for this game is the Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 over the Miami Marlins. We got the Phillies by two or more runs at +135.
