The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies will begin an important four-game series on Thursday night at SunTrust Park. The Atlanta Braves currently have a 5.5 game lead over the Phillies in the National League East. With just a week and a half remaining in the season, the Phillies need a sweep in this series if they are going to catch the Braves. Kevin Gausman will make the start for the Atlanta Braves and he will be opposed by Vince Velasquez of the Phillies.
The Atlanta Braves are the favorite in this game and come in at -142 odds to win the game. The Phillies have +137 odds to win the series opener on Thursday. The over/under for total runs is 8.5 for this game.
Braves vs Phillies Odds
- Spread: Atlanta Braves -142|
- Total: 8.5
Braves vs Phillies Head to Head
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have played each other 12 times this season. The Atlanta Braves have a slight advantage over the Phillies this season, winning seven of the 12 games. The Phillies have won just two of the six games at SunTrust Park this season. The Braves and Phillies will play each other seven more times this season.
Braves vs Phillies Stats
Rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. has burst onto the scene for the Atlanta Braves this season, and has hit 26 home runs out of the leadoff spot. Perennial All-Star Freddie Freeman is having the best season of his career and sports a .311 batting average heading into the season. Both Acuna and Freeman have a chance to win the National League MVP Award this season.
Rhys Hoskins has been the offensive star for the Phillies this season, and Aaron Nola has carried the pitching staff. Hoskins has blasted 32 home runs and driven in 92 runs to carry the Philadelphia offense in 2018. All-Star pitcher Aaron Nola has recorded 16 wins while pitching to a 2.44 earned run average this season.
Braves vs Phillies News
The Atlanta Braves bullpen is letting them down in September. The bullpen has pitched to a 5.67 earned run average so far in the month of September and was a big reason for their recent four-game losing streak. Atlanta relievers have surrendered more walks (49) than strikeouts (46) recorded this month.
The Phillies had a 69 percent chance to make the playoffs at the midway point in August, but a prolonged losing streak has changed their fortunes significantly. Entering this series, the Phillies have just a three percent chance to make the 2018 playoffs according to FanGraphs.
Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies Predictions
The Phillies come into this series as the much more desperate team, but the Atlanta Braves want to wrap up this division soon. Both teams feature solid starting rotations and each game in this series could be low scoring. The Braves have too many weapons on offense to lose this game to the Phillies. Bet the Atlanta Braves -142 in this game.
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