Baseball Betting: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies: July 27th 2009

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks o10.0 (-110 betting odds)
Mon Jul 27 ‘09 9:40p
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The reigning World Series champions are tearing the cover off the ball right now. The Phillies are hitting .297 over their past 17 games and averaging 7.1 runs per game during that stretch. Sunday, The Phils put on another power display hitting, four two-run homers in a lopsided win over the Cardinals, The big flies from Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez gave Philadelphia a NL leading 138 home runs.

Ibanez has four homers and 13 RBIs in 10 games since the All-Star break. Howard is batting .381 with four homers and 12 RBIs in the last 12 while Rollins has hit .344. Those big numbers have helped the Phillies win 15 of their last 17 games. Philadelphia is now third in the majors in runs scored and homers and second in OPS.

The Diamondbacks are also heating up offensively. The Snakes have hit .305 over their last seven games and have scored a total of 45 runs. However they’ll need a solid effort from Jon Garland to keep them in the game against the high octane Philadelphia offense. Garland is 5-9 with a 4.41. He’s gotten three runs or less of run support in 11 of his 12 starts and has a 1-7 record to show for it. Garland has faced Philadelphia twice in his career and is 0-1 with an ERA of 9.90. Garland though has been tough in his last three starts overall posting a record of 2-1 with an ERA of 2.57

The Phillies will counter with Jamie Moyer who is 9-7 with a high 5.65 ERA. Moyer, unlike Garland, has benefited from plenty of run support but could easily be in double-digits in the loss department. The 46-year old Moyer is 2-1 with a 3.45 ERA in three starts in Arizona. However he’s been a gopher ball machine this season allowing 21 homeruns in just over 106 innings. That problem could be even more magnified at hitter friendly Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks have been cashing the OVER with regularity this season posting a record of 32-19-1. The Diamondbacks bullpen is ranked 26th in the league and their 30th ranked defense brings back memories of that old Michael Jackson joke. What do Michael Jackson and the Diamondbacks have in common? They both wear a glove for no apparent reason.

All attempts at comedy aside, the stats and trends point to an OVER play tonight with a lean towards Philadelphia.