The Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers meet in game one of their three-game MLB series from American Family Field on Friday. Two playoff hopefuls going head-to-head in this one, who draws first blood? Let’s dive in and find out.

Phillies Win Series Vs. Angels But Miss Sweep

The Philadelphia Phillies managed to snag a series win over the Angels but narrowly missed out on the sweep after a back and forth 10-8 loss to the Angels in Wednesday’s series finale. The loss dropped the Phils to 74-59 on the year, sitting 13.5 games back in the NL East race while sitting at the top of the NL Wild Card race. Nick Castellanos leads the Phillies with 146 hits along with 22 home runs and 83 RBIs while Bryson Stott is right behind with 144 hits. Kyle Schwarber has a team-high 37 home runs with a team-high 85 RBIs of his own and Alec Bohm has 82 RBIs. Schwarber has the unfortunate distinction of leading the Phillies with 172 strikeouts this season. Zack Wheeler will start for the Phillies here and is 10-6 with a 3.69 ERA and 175 strikeouts this season.

Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts

• The Phillies have lost each of their last five games as favorites against the Brewers following a loss.
• The Phillies have covered the run line in each of their last six games against National League opponents following a loss.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Phillies’ last three games as road favorites against NL Central opponents.
• The Phillies have led after 3 innings in each of their last four night games against National League opponents.
• The Phillies have led after 7 innings in each of their last six games.

Brewers Drop Series Vs. Cubs

The Milwaukee Brewers had a very important series to start the week against the Cubs at Wrigley but fell short in a pair of one run losses to close out the series with a 3-2 defeat in Wednesday’s series finale. Christian Yelich leads the Brewers with 140 hits, 68 RBIs and a .281 batting average as well as a .370 OBP while Willy Adames comes in with a team-leading 21 home runs with Yelich just four off of the pace at 17. William Contreras leads the Brewers with 31 doubles while Adames has the unfortunate distinction of leading the Brewers with 136 strikeouts this season. Freddy Peralta will start here for the Brewers and is 11-8 with a 3.95 ERA and 177 strikeouts this season.

Milwaukee Brewers Team Facts

• The Brewers have won each of their last nine games at American Family Field following a loss.
• The Brewers have covered the run line in each of their last eight games as underdogs.
• The Brewers have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last four night games against NL East opponents that held a winning record.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Brewers’ last four games.
• The Brewers have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last four night games against NL East opponents that held a winning record.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Milwaukee Brewers ranks 1st in the league for hits allowed this season (1026).
• The Milwaukee Brewers ranks 28th in the league for hits this season (1038).
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks 4th in the league for doubles this season (251).
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks T4th in the league for triples this season (25).

Chris’ Pick

I’m backing the Brewers here. Zack Wheeler has pitched well, but he’s been very unlucky to not have better luck in a lot of his recent starts. We’re also getting an equally hot Brewers team as a home underdog where they’ve played their better baseball this season and I just think this is simply a case of getting too much value to pass on in a true coin flip. Freddy Peralta’s also pitched far better at home this season and as such, I think he’s worth the play here.