The Philadelphia Phillies have four games against the Pittsburgh Pirates before a crucial series against the first-place Atlanta Braves that will pretty much decide their season.
With a 78-74 record, the Phillies will hopefully finish the season above .500 for the first time since their last division title in 2011, meaning that even without a postseason berth, they’ve made progress this year.
The issue – one of many – for the Phillies is that they struggle to beat bad teams, and have been low-scorers of late. They took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles, but they won each game by one run and scored a total of seven runs in the series. Their sole loss was a 2-0 shutout, embarrassing, given the Orioles had already lost over 100 games coming into the series.
The Pirates are 57-94, and like the Orioles, are dead-last in their division. They have a dismal 23-53 road record, but like the Phillies, they are 6-4 in their last 10 games.
What Time is the Phillies Game Today?
First pitch today is scheduled for 7:05 PM EST.
What Channel is the Phillies Game on Today?
Today’s Phillies game is available on NBC Sports Philadelphia, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, and MLB.TV (blackout restrictions may apply).
Phillies vs Pirates Odds Today
The Phillies are favored at -285 on the moneyline (bet $285 to win $100), while the Pirates are +225 (bet $100 to win $225).
The spread has Philadelphia -1.5 at -130 (bet $130 to win $100) and Pittsburgh +1.5 at +110 (bet $100 to win $110).
If you’d rather bet on runs, the over/under is 8. Take the over at -120 (bet $120 to win $100) or the under at an even $100 (bet $100 to get it back).
Phillies Pitcher Today: Aaron Nola
The pitcher so hot and cold this season he probably inspired Katy Perry’s song will start for the Phillies tonight.
Nola has a 4.48 ERA over 30 starts this season, but is coming off his best start since early August. Against the Mets last weekend, he only allowed one earned run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. It was his first time allowing less than two earned runs in a start since his scoreless outing against the Dodgers on August 10.
Nola has already faced the Pirates once this season and went six innings with two earned runs on one hit, one walk, and five strikeouts. The Phillies lost 3-2.
The righty is on the higher end of run support from the Phillies offense, a 4.87 run support average in his starts, compared to Zack Wheeler getting an average of 4.14 runs per start.
Connor Overton will go against Nola tonight. He made his debut in early August, and has a 0.00 ERA over seven games, but has only thrown a total of 11 2/3 innings. This will be his second career start.
Phillies Starting Lineup
Check back later for the Phillies starting lineup!
Phillies vs Pirates Prediction Today
Phillies need to win this one, and not only do they need to win, they need an absolute blowout. I think they’ll win, but I think this one will be almost as close as the Orioles games.
Phillies vs Pirates Live Stream
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