The Daily Sweat: The Phillies are underdogs as they look to continue their impressive road winning streak
The Philadelphia Phillies are quietly on one of the best streaks in franchise history.
Following Wednesday’s win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies have won an impressive 11 consecutive road games, dating to June 13.
The streak started when they took three of four from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since then, the Phillies swept the Oakland A’s and Chicago Cubs, and they can keep the streak alive Thursday as they look to sweep the Rays, who hold the best record in the American League.
It will be a bullpen game Thursday for the Rays, who have not been swept this season. Mark Armstrong, a righty with a 1.15 ERA in 15 innings, will be used as the Rays’ opener, while the Phillies counter with lefty Cristopher Sanchez.
Sanchez has settled into the fifth-starter role for the Phillies and has a 3.26 ERA in four starts. In his previous outing, he went six innings while allowing just one earned run.
The Rays are -130 home favorites at BetMGM as they look to avoid the sweep. The Phillies are +105 underdogs with the total listed at nine runs.
The Phillies struggled through the first few months of the season and have fallen well behind the pace set by the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. In recent weeks, however, things have started to click.
The Phillies won 8-4 on Wednesday, exploding for 17 hits in the process. J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm each had at least three hits, while Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner both hit home runs. The Phillies have a deep lineup that is getting into a rhythm, though consistency has still been an issue at times. The pitching staff has been much better over the past month as well, with Taijuan Walker and Ranger Suarez especially turning things around after rough starts. Walker has earned a win in six consecutive starts, including Wednesday.
Curiously, the Phillies have a 3-5 home record during this sizzling road stretch. They won’t return home until after the All-Star break, however, so there’s a chance the streak can stretch to 15 straight road wins before the break.
Even if they can’t catch the Braves in the division — they’re currently 11.5 games back — the Phillies showed last year that they can be a dangerous team if they reach the postseason.
What else is going on in MLB?
There are 13 games on the docket for Thursday.
Among the notable matchups are the series finale between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees in the Bronx and the start of a four-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros in Houston.
The Orioles are -120 favorites at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees at +100 at BetMGM. The Astros have not announced a starter at the time of this writing, so there were no odds available for that matchup in Houston.
Wimbledon continues, John Deere Classic underway
If you’re looking to bet something other than baseball, Day 3 of Wimbledon is underway. Novak Djokovic is the favorite to win on the men’s side at -175, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz at +300. On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek of Poland is the betting favorite at +110. Swiatek has won three French Opens and last year’s U.S. Open but has yet to win at Wimbledon.
Before we look ahead to the Scottish Open and Open Championship in the world of golf, we can’t forget about the John Deere Classic, which opened play Thursday morning. Yahoo Sportsbook’s Pamela Maldonado has a full breakdown of the action here.
Just one WNBA game on the schedule
There’s only one WNBA game Thursday, a meeting between the Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm. The Sun have the third-best record in the league at 12-5 and are favored by 9.5 points at BetMGM.
The Storm are 4-12 and have lost three straight.
