A pair of NL squads that are looking to finish the regular season strong before postseason play will meet on the diamond as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Atlanta Braves to kick off the weekend! Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Phillies-Braves prediction and pick will be made.
After their five-game winning streak came to a screeching halt in a 5-3 loss to the Marlins, the Phillies will look to rebound as they currently sit in the second NL Wild Card spot with an overall record of 80-63. Getting the nod in game one of this series will be lefty Ranger Suarez, as he has posted a 9-5 record with a shiny 3.62 ERA on the year.
Like Philadelphia, the Atlanta Braves are in a similar boat entering Friday's contest as they came up short against the Giants 4-1 and have now lost in four of their previous five games. Trailing the Mets in the NL East division race by only one game, the first-place crown is there for the taking with about 20 games remaining in the regular season. Atlanta will call upon their ace in southpaw Max Fried, who is 13-6 with an extremely impressive 2.50 ERA in his 27 regular season starts.
Here are the Phillies-Braves MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Phillies-Braves Odds
Philadelphia Phillies: +1.5 (-134)
Atlanta Braves: -1.5 (+112)
Over: 7.5 (-118)
Under: 7.5 (-104)
Why The Phillies Could Cover The Spread
For starters, the Phillies' winning streak finally came to an end against the Marlins in the series finale versus their NL East foes, as Philadelphia could not overcome a 4-0 deficit in the first four innings of play on Thursday. Regardless, the Phillies' confidence in winning ballgames is at an all-time high, and will be facing off with a Braves team that has surprisingly been struggling over the last week or so.
In order to cover the spread as the road team this evening, there is no question that Philly needs to get off to a stronger start than they did yesterday. After trailing early, the Phillies proceeded to score a trio of runs late but it was all for not. Obviously, taking the Braves crowd out of it early will be of utmost importance for Philly to settle in and remain hot.
With confidence through the roof, the Phillies' off-night with the bats shouldn't be expected to be the case again as their season-long statistics suggest that they will wreak some havoc offensively. In fact, no-hitter has been as powerful as left-fielder Kyle Schwarber in the National League, as the left-handed slugger has clubbed an NL-high 38 home runs and is a big reason why the ‘Phils might cover the spread on Friday night.
Throughout his career versus Atlanta, Suarez has accumulated an average 4.20 ERA and is coming off of an outing in which he pitched 6 2/3 innings which would be extremely beneficial to the Phillies bullpen. With a stellar outing on Friday from Suarez, the chances of the Phillies covering as +1.5 run underdogs would dramatically increase.
Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread
The defending World Series champions are neck and neck with the New York Mets, and every single regular season matchup from here on out has major postseason implications moving forward. Even though Atlanta is in the midst of a mini-slump out on the baseball diamond, bettors can be assured that Atlanta will be putting their best foot forward with one of the more complete pitchers in line to start for the Braves.
With left-hander Max Fried in line for the start on Friday, there is no doubt that the Braves' golden ticket to covering the spread versus Philadelphia falls on the shoulders of their workhorse on the mound. Making his first All-Star appearance in 2022, Fried has been nearly un-hittable on his way to 155 strikeouts in just over 169 innings on the season. To make matters worse if you're a Phillies fan or bettor, Fried has compiled a 4-3 record with a 3.95 ERA in 13 career starts when opposing Philly and has also not gone down in defeat against his division foes in 2022. As a whole, this is a Braves pitching unit that has held hitters in check with an overall 3.50 ERA and the fourth-lowest batting average against with a .226 mark.
Not to mention, but this Atlanta offense is no joke either. Like the pitching staff, the Braves bats have consistently been in the top five statistically when it comes to total runs scored and also possess a .443 slugging percentage, which ranks as the second-highest number in all of baseball. In other good news, the Braves are also reinstating second-baseman Ozzie Albies off of the 6o-Day IL, so expect Atlanta's dynamic offense to only be more dangerous with the addition of their star middle infielder in this one.
Final Phillies-Braves Prediction & Pick
Could this have the makings of a future playoff matchup in less than two months? While only time will tell, the Braves should have what it takes to snap out of their funk and cover the spread with Fried on the bump this evening.
Final Phillies-Braves Prediction & Pick: Braves -1.5 (+112)
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