Philadelphia Phillies (6-6) vs Cincinnati Reds (5-7)
The Phillies should be encouraged by the fact that they got a solid pitching performance from Roy Halladay yesterday. After taking two of three against the Marlins they are at .500 but still looking way up at the Braves in the National League East standings.
Monday April 15
Great American Ballpark – Cincinnati, OH
7:10PM
Probable Starters:
PHI: Cliff Lee (L)
CIN: Bronson Arroyo (R)
Moneyline: Philadelphia -123, Cincinnati +113 at Bovada
O/U: 7.5
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s MLB Picks Today!
Philadelphia
The offense has been thoroughly unimpressive to date – they scored just six runs against a Miami team that doesn’t have much in the way of pitching.
CLICK GRAB OUR BEST Expert MLB Baseball Picks for 2013 GAMBLING season!
Starter Cliff Lee has been brilliant this season. He has gone 8 or more innings in his first two starts, notching victories in both. He has yet to surrender a walk while striking out 14 for a fantastic ratio. His numbers against Cincinnati are just OK though and the Reds’ park can be a bit of a bandbox.
Still, he is the main reason the Phillies are the favourite in this one and a very good one at that. He appears to be on one of his rolls.
Cincinnati
The Reds are not in a good place right now. They have lost 5 games in a row after being swept by Pittsburgh over the weekend. Their loss on Sunday should really stick in their craw as they squandered a 5-0 lead in the latter innings.
Reliever Jon Broxton was roughed up in the contest giving up 6ER in just 2/3 of an inning. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
How do you let that kind of thing happen when you have the league’s most dominant reliever waiting in the wings?
When Bronson Arroyo takes the mound he usually gives the Reds a decent chance to win. Cincinnati is 1-1 when he starts in this young season with both starts being pretty similar. When they backed him up with some runs (5) they won and when they didn’t (1) they lost.
He has the luxury of facing a scuffling lineup but one of veteran hitters: Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Michael Young all hit better than .300 against Arroyo for their career.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Philadelphia 5 – Cincinnati 4
Looking at everything it is hard to bet against the Phils as short favourites Monday night. They have the better hurler on the hill as well as more momentum. Nothing has been going right for the Reds including a potential injury for ace Johnny Cueto.
You don’t have to back Philly but I would stay away from Cincy unless you are in tune with Bronson Arroyo’s bio-rhythms.
