Public Loves Phils
The Philadelphia Phillies have had no trouble defeating the lowly Washington Nationals in their last few series. They aren’t the only team that can make that claim.
The Phillies look to win their eighth consecutive game over the Nationals, while Washington tries to avoid losing its 13th straight overall for the first time in nearly 40 years when they wrap up their three-game series Wednesday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Philadelphia -260 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 77% of bets for this game have been placed on Philadelphia -260 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
After a 2-5 West Coast road trip that dropped it from first place to second in the NL East, Philadelphia (68-58) has been able to turn things around at home against the Nationals (44-83).
Following Tuesday’s series-opening 5-4 victory, the Phillies beat Washington 4-0 on Wednesday to remain 1 1/2 games back of the division-leading New York Mets.
Center fielder Shane Victorino went 2-for-3 with a run on Wednesday, and is 14-for-28 with two home runs, five RBIs and 10 runs during Philadelphia’s seven-game winning streak over Washington.
The Phillies have outscored the Nationals 40-16 during their winning streak, and have not won eight straight games over the Washington franchise since reeling off 10 in a row over the Montreal Expos May 28-Aug. 12, 1991.
In addition to their losing streak to Philadelphia, the Nationals are in the midst of another humiliating skid.
Washington has dropped 12 straight since beating Colorado 6-3 on Aug. 7, the first time its lost 12 in a row since Aug. 13-27, 1976.
The Nationals have been outscored 81-26 during their slide, and have not lost 13 consecutive games since dropping a franchise-worst 20 straight May 13-June 7, 1969, the inaugural season of the Expos.
"We’re just not capitalizing right now,” Washington manager Manny Acta said. "That’s what we’ve been doing lately.”
The Nationals have also had no luck against Wednesday’s scheduled starter Jamie Moyer (11-7, 3.64 ERA), who is in the midst of one of his best stretches of his career.
The soft-tossing left-hander has yielded three runs or less in each of his 13 starts since June 6, the longest such streak by a Phillies pitcher since Chris Short did it in his final 23 starts in 1967.
"It goes to show you when you know what you’re doing with the baseball, you don’t have to throw 95 or 100 to get it done,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manual said.
Despite Moyer’s solid pitching, he has only five wins in those 13 starts, the result of his offense backing him with an average of 3.21 runs – the fifth-lowest in the majors in that span. Moyer’s offense gave him just enough support on Friday at San Diego, where the 45-year-old allowed three hits and two walks in seven innings of a 1-0 win.
Moyer has been sharp in winning his last two starts against the Nationals, allowing three runs in 12 innings in those contests, as his offense has plated 20 total runs in those games. Moyer is 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA in six starts against Washington since the start of last season, with Philadelphia winning each game.
The Nationals counter with Tim Redding (8-8, 4.66), who has five losses in his last six starts.
Redding has yielded nine runs over 11 innings in losing his last two, and is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last four outings. On Friday, the right-hander gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings of a 4-3 loss to Colorado.
Redding was awful against the Phillies three weeks ago, getting tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in four innings of an 8-5 loss on July 30. He was outstanding in his first two starts of the season against Philadelphia, though, throwing 13 1-3 shutout innings in winning both.
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