MLB Betting – Phillies vs Astros Preview & Pick
The Philadelphia Phillies have the National League East all but locked up. However, they still have something to play for against last-place Houston Tuesday.
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Bet ON MLB – Phillies vs. Astros Preview & Pick
Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Venue: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
Broadcast: WPHL, FSH
Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros Betting Lines from Bet Online.com
Money Line: Phillies -210
Over/Under: 7.5
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Philadelphia Phillies (94-49)
Cole Hamels (14-7, 2.60)
Well, Cole Hamels does. Along with teammates Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, he’ll need some stellar September performances to catch the streaking Clayton Kershaw in the NL Cy Young race.
Hamels has an uncharacteristically high 4.74 lifetime ERA over four trips to Minute Maid Park. But does that number mean anything? It reflects previous battles against competitive Astros teams. The current team’s bones have been picked clean. Former Astros pillars Hunter Pence and Roy Oswalt now wear Phillies jerseys.
The only remaining Houston regular with any track record of success against Hamels is Carlos Lee, who bats only .250 off him but does have two homers and nine RBI in 20 at-bats.
Houston Astros (14-7, 2.60)
J.A. Happ (5-15, 5.77)
Tuesday will mark the second straight day that a former Phillie will start against his old team for Houston. These two teams sure love trading with each other. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
J.A. Happ is a shadow of his former self, the tricky lefty who once spiced up the back of Philly’s rotation. In Houston, he’s a sad story. He can’t hit the plate ad he allows homers galore.
He did beat the Phillies the one time he faced him since being traded, allowing two earned runs over 6.1 innings.
MLB Trends
PHI are 11-1 in their last 12 Tue. games.
PHI are 20-6 in their last 26 road games.
PHI are 52-19 in their last 71 games on grass.
Over is 6-2 in HOU last 8 home games.
HOU are 26-63 in their last 89 overall.
HOU are 5-12 in their last 17 Tue. games.
MLB Free pick:
I’d like to see a bigger sample size before trusting Happ against his old team. He’s been positively bad this year and the Phillies’ lineup has been more dangerous since Pence joined the fray.
Meanwhile, though Hamels hasn’t excelled against Houston in the past, he’ll be facing a punchless lineup on Tuesday. Lee’s 15 homers and 81 RBI lead the team this season. Aside from that, no other Astro has more than 10 homers or 38 RBI. No one in his lineup can hurt Hamels.
Phillies vs Astros prediction: Phillies 6, Astros 2
