Phillies vs. Giants prediction and odds for Monday, May 15 (Can an Opener Solve Falter's woes?)
By Josh Yourish
Last week the Philadelphia Phillies started a five-game winning streak that ended with a 4-0 loss yesterday, but that was enough to propel them back to .500 at 20-20.
Tempers flared in that one and Bryce Harper was ejected, but the Phillies star DH will be back in the lineup for Game 1 against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle park. The Giants are 17-23 after three losses this weekend.
It’ll be a battle of lefties as Alex Wood starts for San Fran and Bailey Falter will handle the bulk of the innings, but may have an opener for this one. Wood has made three starts and one appearance in relief. He has worked to a 2.45 ERA. Falter is 0-6 with a 5.75 ERA in seven starts.
Let’s get into the odds for the Phillies and Giants in San Francisco.
Phillies vs. Giants odds, run line and total
Phillies vs. Giants prediction and pick
Bailey Falter has been a disaster for the Phillies. They do have one win in his second start of the year, but he is 0-6 when he takes the decision. Most recently he gave up five earned runs to the Red Sox in 3.2 innings.
He just couldn’t get the final out of the fourth and eventually had to be pulled for a reliever. Luckily, the Giants struggle against lefties and 26th in OPS.
The Phillies aren’t great against left-handers like Alex Wood either. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper the two most feared bats in their lineup, opponents can feel more comfortable with the ball in a lefties hand. That's even the case with Brandon Marsh who still leads the team in OPS.
Philadelphia is experimenting with an opener in front of Falter, but the team is 1-6 when he takes the mound. That’s a strong enough trend for me to favor the Giants tonight. Wilmer Flores crushed lefties to the tune of a .927 OPS with four home runs. He could do some damage against Falter.
However, both teams will likely get into their bullpens early and they rank 25th and 28th in bullpen ERA. I’ll take the over despite neither team hitting lefties particularly well.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change