Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves Betting Preview
Sunday Night Baseball will feature the finale of a four-game series between NL East rivals as the Philadelphia Phillies (25-27) take on the Atlanta Braves (31-21). The Braves will host this one at Truist Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.
After losing the opening game of the series, the Phillies have won the last two, including a 2-1 victory on Saturday. In the win, Zack Wheeler went eight scoreless innings, striking out 12. Treat Turner and Nick Castellanos combined to go four for nine.
The Braves are the favorites in this one playing at home. They are -275 to win, while the Phillies’ moneyline sits at +225. The runline features Philadelphia +1.5 (+112), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Phillies Look To Cut Into Braves’ NL East Lead
At 25-27, the Philadelphia Phillies sit in fourth in the NL East, six games back of the Atlanta Braves. Still, with the season only about a third of the way through, taking three of four is a great way to chip into that divisional deficit.
Trying to secure the series win Sunday night will be 31-year-old righty Dylan Covey. In two games this year, he has a 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and he has struck out nine in nine innings. In his last outing, he took a no-decision after giving up just one earned run over five innings against the Diamondbacks.
As a team, the Phillies currently rank 24th in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 4.96 runs per game (5.85 on the road).
Offensively, the Phillies rank just 21st in the majors in scoring, averaging 4.33 runs per game. Despite hitting just .166/.320/.392, Kyle Schwarber currently leads the team in home runs with 12. In eight career at bats against the Braves’ Spencer Strider, Schwarber has just one hit, but it was a long ball.
Atlanta Needs To Improve At Home
Even though they lead the division by four games over the second-place New York Mets, the Braves have struggled a bit at Truist Park this year. While they are 17-7 on the road, they are just 14-14 when playing at home. They will look to move over .500 at home on Sunday.
24-year-old phenom Spencer Strider will take the ball for the Braves in this primetime matchup. In 10 games, he is 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and he has a whopping 97 strikeouts in just 57.2 innings. Strider took a tough-luck loss in his last outing after giving just two earned runs over six innings while striking out 11 against the Dodgers.
The Braves’ 5.16 runs per game is good enough for fifth in the majors this year. Despite this success, they are averaging just 4.67 runs at home.
Matt Olson has gotten off to a hot start for the Braves this year. Hitting .227/.355/.505, he leads the team in both home runs (14) and runs batted in (37).
Take The Braves To Win And Cover
Both of these teams have been mediocre as of late, going 5-5 in their last ten games. Still, the pitching matchup heavily favors the Braves in this one.
While Dylan Covey has pitched admirably in his first two outings, Spencer Strider has shown that he is one of the best in the business. He currently leads the majors in strikeouts, and his sub-3.00 ERA and 1.04 WHIP are elite.
Even though they have struggled at home, take Atlanta to not only win this one but to cover the -1.5 runline (-134) as well.
