Baseball Betting: Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies

Added on Jul 08, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The Atlanta Braves look to finish the first half of the MLB season with a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. Atlanta is poised to make a move in the NL East and should they win today and the New York Mets lose could go into the All Star Break in second place. The Phillies, meanwhile, are sinking like a stone in the division. They’ve been finding new ways to lose games over the past month and limp into the break with 11 losses in their last 14 games.

Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies
July 8, 2012 10: 35 AM Pacific

Made to order matchup to take us into the All Star Break with a team on an upswing starting an ‘under the radar’ pitcher against a struggling favorite. The Braves are on the verge of sweeping the Phillies and today will start right hander Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens struggled early in the season and was demoted to the minors for awhile. He’s recently returned to the MLB team and has been very strong since rejoining the starting rotation. In three starts since his callup he’s allowed only 3 earned runs for a tidy 1.75 ERA and the Braves have won two of his three starts.

Atlanta continues to post wins–and profits–on the road in the 2012 season. Following yesterday’s victory they’ve got a 25-17 record away from Turner Field which has produced +10.2 units of profit. Philadelphia can’t win anywhere and in any situation but their biggest liability has been a horrific showing on their home field at Citizens Bank Park where they’ve posted a woeful 17-26 record and a -19.7 unit loss.

The Phillies have Ryan Howard back in the lineup but there’s little to suggest that the team will emerge from their current maelstrom. No matter the situation, the Phillies have lost money. Philadelphia is 37-49 overall for a -23.6 unit loss which makes them the worst investment in Major League Baseball by a significant margin over the second worst profit and loss team, the Colorado Rockies (-18.70 units). They’ve gone 11-21 -15.4 units against NL East rivals and 17-29 -18.9 units against teams with winning records. With the improving Jurrjens on the hill for Atlanta and the mediocre Vance Worley providing the opposition for Philadelphia this is a great spot for the Braves to complete the sweep and cash a ticket as a small underdog.

Bet Atlanta Braves (Jurrjens) +115 over Philadelphia Phillies (Worley)