The Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays meet Tuesday in MLB action from Rogers Centre. The Phillies are fresh off a weekend series versus the Twins, losing two of three games. As for Toronto, they played the Cubs in their last set and lost two of three games as well. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies took a blowout win 13-2 over the Twins in the first installment of their weekend series, but then fell 8-1 in game two. In the Sunday rubber match, Philadelphia again stumbled with a 3-0 defeat to drop the series. Jake Cave had two of the team’s five hits in the loss.
In the starter role for the Tuesday game the Phillies are sending out Zack Wheeler. In his 23 starts so far Wheeler is 9-5 with a 3.74 ERA and 155 Ks in 137.0 innings. Wheeler has gone 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA in his last seven starts, striking out 49 in 43.2 frames.
Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts
- The Phillies have lost each of their last five games as road favorites against AL East opponents.
- The Phillies have covered the run line each of their last six road games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
- The Phillies have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last five games as road favorites against AL East opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Phillies’ last seven games as favorites against AL East opponents.
- The Phillies have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three games as favorites against AL East opponents.
Philadelphia Phillies Player Prop Facts
- J.T. Realmuto has hit a home run in each of his last two appearances with the Phillies as favorites.
- J.T. Realmuto has recorded at least one RBI in each of his four previous appearances against the Blue Jays after not playing the previous day.
- Bryce Harper has scored at least one run in each of his last four appearances against the Blue Jays after not playing the previous day.
- Trea Turner has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Phillies’ last six night games.
- Zack Wheeler has recorded seven or more strikeouts in five of his last six road appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Trea Turner has recorded at least one hit in each of the Phillies’ last 10 games.
- Kyle Schwarber ranks T6th in the league in Home Runs (30) this season.
Toronto Blue Jays
Over on the Toronto side, they fell 6-2 to the Cubs on Friday then recorded a 5-4 loss in the Saturday matchup. In the Sunday finale the Blue Jays were able to fend off the sweep with an 11-4 victory. Daulton Varsho had two hits, two runs a homer and five RBI in the win, and Vladimir Guerrero added two hits, two RBI and a run.
Yusei Kikuchi will take the mound for the Blue Jays on Tuesday. This year in his 23 starts Kikuchi is 9-4 with a 3.53 ERA and 125 Ks in 122.1 innings. Kikuchi is 2-2 with a 3.05 ERA in his last seven starts with 13 earned in 38.1 innings.
Toronto Blue Jays Team Facts
- The Blue Jays have won each of their last nine home games against NL East opponents.
- The Blue Jays have covered the run line in each of their last nine games as underdogs.
- The Blue Jays have led after 3 innings in each of their last five games as underdogs.
- The Blue Jays have led after 7 innings in each of their last five games as underdogs.
- The Blue Jays have led after 5 innings in five of their last six games as home underdogs against National League opponents.
Toronto Blue Jays Player Prop Facts
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has hit a home run in four of the Blue Jays’ last five home games against the Phillies.
- Danny Jansen has recorded at least one RBI in four of his last five appearances with the Blue Jays as home underdogs.
- Whit Merrifield has scored at least one run in eight of the Blue Jays’ last nine games against NL opponents that held a winning record.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Blue Jays’ last four home games against NL East opponents.
- Yusei Kikuchi has recorded seven or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances with the Blue Jays as underdogs.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has recorded at least one hit in each of the Blue Jays’ last 10 home games against NL East opponents.
- Whit Merrifield ranks 9th amongst qualified players for Batting Average (.302) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Toronto Blue Jays ranks 1st in the league for ERA this season (3.70).
- The Toronto Blue Jays ranks 2nd in the league for runs allowed this season (481).
- The Philadelphia Phillies are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and batting average this season.
- The Philadelphia Phillies ranks T5th in the league for triples this season (21).
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to stay with the Blue Jays. Both starters have been doing well lately though, so I expect this one to be tight—at least initially. Kikuchi has just three earned runs in his last three starts over 20.0 innings on 16 hits and four walks. He’s 2-1 in that time. As for Wheeler, he’s got six earned over his last three starts in 18.2 innings. Wheeler has gone 2-0 in that trio and should keep it up on Tuesday. Toronto’s offense has been pretty sketchy lately with three or fewer runs in five of their last seven games. The Sunday breakout was an encouraging sign though, so if the bats get going at some point the Jays have a pretty good shot behind Kikuchi.
