Los Angeles Dodgers vs Philadelphia Phillies Predictions, Odds, Picks

• Fantastic pitching matchup to open the series
• Not even injuries are slowing down Phillies right now
• X-factors to watch

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Philadelphia Phillies Odds

Odds presented by: DraftKings Sportsbook

Trends to Watch

• Dodgers are 5-2 in their last 7 overall
• Dodgers are 37-15 in their last 52 Tuesday games
• Dodgers are 16-7 in their last 23 vs. National League East
• Under is 8-1 in Dodgers last 9 Tuesday games
• Under is 6-1 in Dodgers last 7 games following an off day
• Over is 4-1 in Dodgers last 5 road games
• Dodgers are 7-3 in the last 10 head-to-head meetings
• Over is 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings in Philadelphia
• Phillies are 8-0 in their last 8 overall
• Phillies are 4-0 in their last 4 home games
• Phillies are 13-3 in their last 16 home games vs. a team with a winning record
• Phillies are 9-2 in their last 11 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15
• Over is 8-1 in Phillies last 9 games as an underdog

Dodgers vs Phillies Prediction and Picks

The pitching matchup alone is worth the price of admission. Add to it that the Phillies are all of a sudden red hot and atop their division while the Dodgers, who are still playing well, are four games back in the NL West and starting to feel desperate and it adds to the importance and excitement of this series. In the end, it just very rarely pays to bet against Max Scherzer, so we’re going to take the Dodgers money line.

Pick:

Dodgers money line (-160)

Garcia’s 2021 record: (43-41-2)

How to Watch Dodgers vs Phillies

Fantastic Pitching Matchup to Open the Series

Max Scherzer is a first-ballot hall of Famer. Aaron Nola doesn’t have quite that pedigree and is not having a vintage season, but when he’s on, he’s one of the premier pitchers in the National League. It’s going to be a fun matchup.

Scherzer, who is 9-4 overall with a 2.75 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and has 157 strikeouts in 118 innings, is making just his second start with the Dodgers.

He was predictably brilliant in his first outing in Dodger Blue — he picked up the win against the Astros, giving up just two earned runs on five hits across seven innings while striking out 10 batters. Scherzer hasn’t lost a game since May.

Nola has been more up and down this year. The man who finished third in Cy Young voting in 2018 is 7-6 overall with a 4.49 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 152 strikeouts in 126.1 innings of work.

Since mid-June, it’s been a struggle for Nola. In his past eight outings, Nola has just two quality starts and has seen his ERA jump 0.80 points. But still, the Phillies are redd hot and Citizens Bank Park will be electric — expect his best stuff on Tuesday.

Phillies Streaking Heading Into Home Stretch of the Season

Don’t look now, but the Phillies, who looked completely lost just two weeks ago, were buyers at the deadline and now are the hottest team in all of baseball. Maybe they just needed the calendar to flip to August.

In just more than a week’s time, they went from third place in the NL West and 4.5 games back of the Mets, to two games ahead of New York for the division lead. Life comes at you fast.

Philadelphia is averaging nearly seven runs per game during its 8-game winning streak and have been of course led by Bryce Harper.

Harper is hitting .302 with 20 home runs, 45 RBIs and is fifth in all of baseball with a .985 OPS. Those numbers are even better this month, hitting .367 with four home runs, seven RBIs, a .457 OBP and 1.390 OPS.

The strange thing is, Philadelphia is doing a lot of this without some of its best players. Rhys Hoskins, Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius have all been out for varying lengths of time and it is unclear when any will be back, though Gregorius seems like the candidate most likely to return soon.

X-Factors to Watch

For the Phillies, arguably nobody has been hotter than Odubel Herrera. Herrera is hitting .367 (8-of-22) the past week, with two home runs and five RBIs — including breaking a scoreless tie against the Mets in the fifth inning Sunday. When he’s contributing offensively like this, the Phillies become an even scarier team.

The Dodgers are short-handed these days, but it almost feels like they’re getting someone back with the re-emergence of Cody Bellinger. He didn’t go anywhere, but he’s been struggling mightily the majority of the season.

But currently, the 2019 NL MVP is in the midst of a season-high six game hitting streak and has home runs in back-to-back games for the first time all year. Let’s see if this form is here to stay.