- The Philadelphia Phillies are -134 road favorites over the Texas Rangers in Arlington on Friday night.
- The Rangers are fifteen games over .500 at home, while the Phillies have gone 28-28 on the road.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Friday night MLB action heads to Texas as the Rangers host the Philadelphia Phillies in a primetime matchup on MLB Network at 8:05 PM EST as two potential playoff teams look to gain some ground.
Phillies vs Rangers Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillies | -1.5 (+130) | -134 | O 7.5 (EVEN) |
| Rangers | +1.5 (-150) | +112 | U 7.5 (-120) |
Legal sports betting sites give a slight edge to the Phillies in this one at -134, though the Rangers are not far behind at +112. Here are some factors to consider when betting on this one.
Pitching Matchup
Fans of good pitching are in for a treat with this game, as the Phillies will start Christopher Sanchez to face Merrill Kelly, the newly acquired starter for the Rangers.
Sanchez has been elite all season long, posting a sub 2.00 ERA in each of the past two months and is coming off a scoreless eight inning outing against the Detroit Tigers in which he allowed just five hits, one walk, and recorded six strikeouts.
His 10-3 record is tied for the twelfth best in the league and his 2.40 ERA is the fifth best in the MLB.
Kelly hasn’t been quite to Sanchez’s level, but he has been an above average starter this season, improving his ERA each month all the way down to 2.35 in July.
In his first start with the Rangers after being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kelly pitched five and two thirds innings against the Mariners, allowing four hits and two runs as well as striking out six batters.
Home / Road Splits
Texas has gone 36-21 at home, fifteen games above .500 and one of the best marks in the American League. This is in large part due to their league best 2.79 home ERA.
Meanwhile, the Phillies have gone 28-28 on the road, going .500 through 56 road appearances. Interestingly, Philadelphia holds the lowest road ERA at 3.57, meaning we could be in for a very low scoring affair.
Betting on the under for 7.5 total runs at -120 may prove to be a worthy investment.
Recent Performance
Texas came out of the All-Star break scorching hot, winning eight of their first nine games, including a six game win streak. However, they have cooled off noticeably since then, going 4-6 in their last ten games.
Coming down the stretch of the regular season and 1.5 games back of a wildcard spot, every game holds that much more significance for the Rangers.
The Phillies currently hold a 2.5 game lead over the Mets in the race for the NL East, but they have not done a whole lot since the break to expand their lead and have gone 5-5 in their last ten.
The struggles mostly reside on the offensive side of the ball, as Philadelphia has scored more than five runs just twice in their last ten games.
To make matters worse, they have scored just 4.25 runs per game on the road throughout the season, ranking just outside the bottom ten in the MLB.
Though neither team comes into the game with much momentum, the home field advantage for the Rangers should be enough for them to win outright. Bet on the Rangers with +112 odds at MLB betting sites.
