The Phillies make the trip to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates! The Phillies have been the best team in the MLB, while the Pirates have struggled with inconsistency. These two teams are also playing very well leading into this matchup. Our MLB odds series has our Phillies-Pirates prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.

Phillies-Pirates Projected Starters 

Cristopher Sanchez vs. Luis Ortiz

Cristopher Sanchez (7-4) with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts in a Phillies win.

2024 Road Splits: (1-3) 5.54 ERA

Luis Ortiz (4-2) with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched 5.2 innings and gave up one run on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts in a Pirates win.

2024 Home Splits: (1-1) 3.41 ERA

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Phillies-Pirates Odds

Philadelphia Phillies: -1.5 (+102)

Moneyline: -168

Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (-122)

Moneyline: +142

Over: 8.5 (-115)

Under: 8.5 (-105)

How to Watch Phillies vs. Pirates

Time: 6:40 pm ET

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Phillies Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Phillies are the best team in the MLB and currently have a 62-34 record. The offense is the third-best in the MLB, while their pitching is the best in the MLB. On offense, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Nick Castellanos, and Alec Bohm have been the big standouts on a great offense. The pitching of Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Spencer Turnbull have made up one great pitching staff. The Phillies have been a force this season and have shown no signs of slowing down in the second half of the season next year.

The Phillies are starting Cristopher Sanchez on the mound where he has a 7-4 record, a 2.96 ERA, and a 1.23 WHIP. He has allowed 40 runs on 99 hits with 28 walks and 87 strikeouts through 103.1 innings this season. The Phillies are 9-9 in the games that he has started in. Sanchez has been having a solid season in Philadelphia, and he has a great matchup against the Pirates. Pittsburgh has struggled behind the plate, which favors Sanchez.

The offense for the Phillies has been one of the best this season. The Phillies are third in the MLB in team batting average at .259 after finishing last season at .256. Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper lead the way for the Phillies behind the plate in most of the batting categories. Harper leads in batting average at .301, in home runs at 21, and in OBP at .403. Then, Bohm leads in RBI at 70 and total hits at 107. This offense gets an interesting matchup against Ortiz for the Pirates because he has been solid when needed this season in the bullpen and then more recently as a starter.

Why The Pirates Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Pirates have been inconsistent this season on their way to a 48-48 record. They have struggled behind the plate, but their pitching has been average and in the middle of the pack this season. Connor Joe, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, and Jack Suwinski have been solid behind the plate despite the offensive struggles as a whole. Jared Jones and Mitch Keller have been solid for the pitching staff. It is also worth noting that Paul Skenes has been great too. The Pirates have struggled to find consistency all this season and it's the main thing holding them back.

The Pirates are starting Luis Ortiz on the mound. He has a 4-2 record, a 2.84 ERA, and a 1.16 WHIP. Through 66.2 innings, he has allowed 23 runs on 58 hits with 19 walks and 57 strikeouts. He has started in three games this season, and the Pirates have gone 2-1 in those games. He started the season in the bullpen and has been solid in both the bullpen and as a starter. He gets a difficult challenge in this game against the red-hot Phillies offense.

The offense for the Pirates has struggled this season. They are 27th in the MLB in team batting average at .231 after having a batting average of .239 last season. Bryan Reynolds is the leader in almost every batting category. Reynolds leads in batting average at .284, in home runs at 18, in RBI at 61, in OBP at .347, and in hits at 110. This is a difficult matchup for a struggling offense because of how well Cristopher Sanchez has played for the Phillies this season on the mound and he has been key for a strong pitching staff in Philly as a whole.

Final Phillies-Pirates Prediction & Pick

The Phillies are the better team when compared to the Pirates. However, pitching evens this out in this game with the difference between Sanchez and Ortiz being marginal. The Phillies have a much better offense, but pitching is the great equalizer. Expect the Pirates to cover at home even if the Phillies still win outright.

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Final Phillies-Pirates Prediction & Pick: Pirates +1.5 (-122)