Who's Hot MLB's Hottest Road Teams
by: Alex Smart Sports
Home field advantage in the majors this season has been as important as ever. Not all teams have struggled away from their own park though. Check out this week’s list of teams that are on a roll on the road…
(Rank) (Team) (SU Road Record, $$$) (SU Road Record in L/5, $$$)
1: Philadelphia Phillies (13-4, +$982) (5-0, +$501 in L/5) Manager Charlie Manuel has to be confused as to why his club is a pitiful 8-12 at home, but a fantastic 13-4 on the road this season. Regardless, a ten-game road trip has opened up in style this week, as the defending champs swept four games in DC and took Game 1 of a three-game set in Cincinnati yesterday to start the trip. The Phils have scored 37 runs in those five games, and though the pitching staff hasn’t been fantastic (as they have allowed 25 runs in those five games), when you’re averaging 7.4 runs per game, you can afford to give up a few dingers. Keep your eye open for Raul Ibanez, who suddenly has 13 homers on the season after knocking out three over the course of the L/4 days.
2: Atlanta Braves (12-8, +$493) (4-1, +$448 in L/5) The Braves are a sneaky, sneaky team in the NL East. While Florida has dropped back to earth, the Phillies and Mets haven’t found a way to keep the Braves too far away from them. Manager Bobby Cox knows that he doesn’t have a team of mashers (case in point, Chipper Jones leads the team with just four homers on the season), nor does he have a team that is full of speed (they only have eight stolen bases for the season, the worst mark in baseball), but he does have a team that plays the game right and just finds ways to keep scratching out victories. Atlanta recently took four out of five games in New York and Philadelphia, which provided a huge boost for Braves bettors. The starting trio of Jair Jurrjens, Derek Lowe, and Javier Vazquez has been fantastic this season, as they are a combined 12-7, and all three have sub-4.00 ERAs. If that keeps up, watch out for Atlanta to return to the summit of the NL East after a lackluster ’08 season.
3: Milwaukee Brewers (13-7, +$753) (4-1, +$336 in L/5) The Brewers are smoking hot no matter where they are playing right now. They have rolled off seven straight victories and have won 14 of their L/16 overall. They’re 7-1 on the road in that stretch, and are doing it with their pitching. Teams are only averaging 3.31 runs per game on this winning stretch. Ask the Cardinals just how well Milwaukee’s arms are going. They only mustered six runs in three days against Braden Looper, Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, and the Milwaukee bullpen. It also doesn’t hurt when your slugger, Ryan Braun, has reached base safely eight times over the L/3 days. The Brew Crew has five more games on the road before returning to Miller Park for their next six.
And the rest…
4: Houston Astros (9-9, +$170) (3-2, +$236 in L/5)
5: New York Yankees (11-10, -$125) (3-2, +$51 in L/5)