Fresh off of a topsy-turvy weekend against the Mets, the Phillies are on the road for a series against the Seattle Mariners. There’s no time for licking wounds as there is an opportunity to gain back some ground against a side that’s 13-16 on the season.
The Mariners, unlike the Phils, had a pretty successful weekend, most recently putting up a strong pitching performance against the Rays in a 2-1 win. Meanwhile, Christopher Sanchez was called up at the last second due to some COVID issues in Philadelphia and his start went as expected. He threw 2.3 innings and gave up a pair of hits and earned runs.
Pitching matchup
Chris Flexen (1-4, 3.1 ERA) vs Ranger Suarez (2-1, 4.6 ERA)
Flexen’s losing record is a little misleading. His poor start has been flipped on its head and he’s back to his best. He only allowed 2 hits in 5 innings against the Astros and is averaging 5.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Although the Phils offense is explosive on occasion, the fact that Flexen can go deep into games is a really discouraging sign for the Fightin’s if they do struggle to get out of the gate.
Suarez will be making his sixth start of the season after recently pitching in Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers where he allowed 3 runs and 6 hits in 5 innings. Suarez is going up against a stern offense in Seattle and one that’s already scored 31 home runs this season, ranking 7th in the league. An off-day here is going to be punished and the betting odds reflect that.
Betting preview
The Phillies enter this game as an underdog and understandably so. They’ve struggled to find any kind of consistency up to this point and have a habit of undoing all of the hard work the offense has been putting in. With that said, the handicap is appealing. If the Phillies are able to keep firing with the bats and sneak a couple of runs past Flexen early, then they should be able to at least keep pace with the Mariners, and the odds for +1.5 are appealing with that in mind.
Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire
