Two teams in the thick of the NL playoff race will meet face-to-face on the diamond as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Atlanta Braves down in the deep south. Kick up your feet and relax by joining us for our MLB odds series, where our Phillies-Braves prediction and pick will be made.

Entering play on Tuesday, the Phillies are growing hotter and hotter by the day. With their five-game winning streak on the line in this one, the 55-47 Phillies will seek to further improve their record and positioning when it comes to the Wild Card race out in the American League. Responsible for continuing the party will be starter Nick Nelson, who has posted a 3-1 record to go along with a 3.94 ERA on the season.

Well if it isn't the defending champs! The Braves have seemingly become accustomed to reeling off wins, as they have now won four of five to increase their record at 62-41. While this bafflingly still puts them behind the Mets in the division still, only 3.5 games separate Atlanta and New York out east. Getting the nod in this one will be none other than righty Spencer Strider. In his eleven starts on the season, Strider is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA.

Here are the Phillies-Braves MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Phillies-Braves Odds

Philadelphia Phillies: +1.5 (+104)

Atlanta Braves: -1.5 (-125)

Over: 8.5 (-114)

Under: 8.5 (-106)

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Why The Phillies Could Cover The Spread

Outside of the Braves, it may be this Phillies squad that has undergone one of the more impressive turnarounds that this season has had to offer. In fact, the Phillies got exactly the energizing kick in the butt that they needed when new manager Rob Thomson was hired to take control of the team back in June. Since then, Philadelphia has played with a newfound passion and fire that lacked to begin the year when Joe Girardi was at the helm.

Even more impressively, the Phillies have still been hitting the ball even with Bryce Harper remaining sidelined with a broken thumb since June 25th. Despite a .168 batting average in the month of July, Kyle Schwarber belted ten home runs in the month of July to help carry the load offensively. However, the hottest hitter hands down for the Phillies have come from the hot corner in Alec Bohm, who has absolutely punished opposing pitching of late. Bohm's .434 batting average during the month was the league's highest and is also batting .390 in ten games against the Braves this season. The bottom line? This is still one of the more feared offensive attacks that baseball has to offer even with Harper remaining absent from the lineup. As a whole, Philadelphia has mashed for 476 runs this season, which is the 6th most in the sport.

Pitching-wise, Philadelphia will go with a bullpen approach ahead of this ballgame, as they were forced to put Kyle Gibson on the bereavement list abruptly. Nonetheless, Phillies' pitching has pitched to the tune of a 3.74 ERA this season and has  46 quality starts under their belts.

Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread

As each passing day comes and goes, the Braves seem like a more dangerous team by the minute. During their four-game series in Pittsburgh, Atlanta made sure that the Pirates would get no chance to make some noise. At the conclusion of the final game in the series, Atlanta had completed the sweep by outscoring Pittsburgh 22-12 including an 8-2 rout in the finale. Simply put, this Braves squad can do it all and hasn't seemed to miss a beat following their championship season from a year ago.

To kick off the month of August, the Braves rewarded one of their top sluggers with a ginormous contract extension. A frontrunner for the NL Player of the Month award during the month of July, Austin Riley was inked to a 10-year, $212 million dollar deal that will see him stick with the team through the 2033 season. While that is more money than most of us could ever fathom, it was well-deserved after the third-baseman shattered the extra-base hits in the July record by finishing with 26 such hits. With a bat like Riley's in the batter's box, the Braves could cover the spread with their superstar batter at the plate.

Another reason Atlanta has what it takes to cover the spread this afternoon? Look no further than rookie hurler Spencer Strider. If Strider can have a repeat of his last outing against the Phillies which came last Tuesday then Atlanta will be feeling pretty good about themselves. In that appearance, Strider kept Philly guessing after allowing only one run in six innings to go along with six punchouts in the 6-3 victory.

Final Phillies-Braves Prediction & Pick

This hotly contested matchup has the makings to be great! With that being said, the Phillies' reliance on their bullpen from first pitch will leave them slightly fatigued from the mound, which should benefit the Braves to score some runs early and often. Even more so, Atlanta is no slouch at home with a 36-21 record at Truist Park.

Final Phillies-Braves Prediction & Pick: Braves -1.5 (-125)