The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t play at all last week due to some positive coronavirus tests, but they all have been cleared and play Game 2 of a series at the New York Yankees on Tuesday. The Yanks are solid favorites on the MLB odds.
Phillies vs. Yankees – MLB Odds & Picks
How to Bet Phillies at Yankees MLB Odds & TV Info- When: Tuesday, 6:05 PM ET
- Where: Yankee Stadium
- Probable pitchers (away/home): Aaron Nola/JA Happ
- TV: MLB Extra Innings
- Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
- Opening MLB Lines: Yankees -160, Phillies +148 (total 9.5)
The Phillies announced Monday morning that there were no new positive tests for COVID-19 among Sunday’s samples. The Phillies had a coach and staffer test positive, but no players have tested positive since the team’s series against the Marlins last weekend. Major League Baseball is on record as believing the two positive tests of a coach and clubhouse attendant on Thursday were false positives.
This will be a bit of a homecoming for Phillies manager Joe Girardi. He was named the 55th skipper in Phillies history on Oct. 24, 2019. Girardi has managed 11 seasons in the major leagues, including with the Yankees from 2008-17. Their last World Series title came in 2009 when Girardi was there. Among all active skippers with at least 500 games managed, Girardi’s .554 winning percentage ranks third behind only Dave Roberts (.605) and Mike Matheny (.555).
It’s Aaron Nola on the mound. Last year, he tied for first in the National League with his 34 starts. Nola’s 229 strikeouts were a career high, 7th-most ever by a Phillies RHP and 14th highest ever by any Phillie in a season. He became just the ninth Phillie (and the youngest of them at age 26) to have multiple 200-strikeout seasons in his career.
Nola has two of the four 200-strikeout seasons by Phillies age 26 or younger since 1912, joining Cole Hamels in 2010 and Brett Myers in 2005. Nola has had two of the top 10 highest strikeout totals ever by a Phillies right-hander, and is just the fourth different pitcher on the list (Curt Schilling, Jim Bunning, Grover Cleveland Alexander).
Nola hasn’t pitched since Opening Day on July 24. He was tagged with four runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Phillies fell to the Marlins. Nola struck out seven and walked one in the loss. He held the Marlins to a sacrifice fly from Jonathan Villar through the first five innings, but he ran out of gas in the sixth. Nola gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to Jesus Aguilar and a double to Corey Dickerson before being pulled. Dickerson eventually came around to score after Ramon Rosso uncorked a wild pitch. Nola had issues with his control and the home run ball last year, too.
Why Bet on NY Yankees?The Yankees remain without closer Aroldis Chapman as he recovers from the coronavirus. He is headed for the Yankees’ alternate training site in Moosic, Pennsylvania, and will presumably need several days of throwing before being cleared to rejoin the Yankees.
Star shortstop Gleyber Torres didn’t start Monday’s game vs. the Phillies but it was just a routine day off. Since making his Major League debut on 4/22/18, Torres’ 23 game-winning RBI are tied for the most among Yankees hitters (also Judge). He is third with 32 go-ahead RBI.
Of the Yankees’ 45 runs scored in 2020 as of Monday, 32 have come via HR (eight solo HRs, five two-run HRs, two three-run HR and two grand slams). They scored 20 straight runs via the homer from Luke Voit’s grand slam in the first inning on 7/30 to Aaron Judge’s three-run HR in the second inning on Sunday. New York’s 17 homers are their fourth-highest total through their first eight games of a season (20 in 1932, 19 in 2003, 18 in 2011). Since the start of 2017, Yankees batters have hit a Major League-best 125HR with at least two runners on base (next: Houston-103).
It’s lefty and former Phillie JA Happ on the mound. He lasted four innings and gave up four runs last Thursday against the Orioles. The Yankees gave Happ five runs to work with in the top of the first, but the Orioles came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the second. Happ was fine after that, retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced.
The 37-year-old went 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA (13.0IP, 2ER) and 16K in four total spring training starts. He has made 11 Opening Day rosters with five teams: Philadelphia (2009-10), Houston (2011-12), Toronto (2013, ‘16-18), Seattle (2015) and the Yankees (2019-20). Happ is one of six pitchers to earn at least 10 wins in each of the last six seasons (since 2014), along with teammate Masahiro Tanaka, the Cubs’ Jon Lester, Washington’s Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg and Houston’s Zack Greinke. Happ needs 1K to reach 1,500 career strikeouts.
Game Trends- The Yankees are 7-3 in Happ’s past 10 starts.
- The over/under is 4-5-1 in Happ’s past 10.
