The Philadelphia Phillies (65-54) and Toronto Blue Jays (66-54) open a 2-game set Tuesday at Rogers Centre. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET.
Season series: Phillies lead 2-0
The Phillies lost 3-0 as -114 home favorites vs. the Minnesota Twins Sunday. Phillies 1B Alec Bohm was ejected for spiking his bat on a borderline called strike 3 which would’ve loaded the bases for DH Bryce Harper had it been ruled ball 4. Philadelphia has won 6 of its last 10 games and remains in 1st place in the NL Wild Card standings.
The Blue Jays won 11-4 as -112 home favorites vs. the Chicago Cubs Sunday. LF Daulton Varsho hit a 3-run HR in the 2nd inning and finished with 5 RBIs as Toronto avoided a 3-game sweep. The Blue Jays are still in the final AL Wild Card spot with a 2 game buffer on the Seattle Mariners.
Phillies at Blue Jays projected starters
RHP Zack Wheeler vs. LHP Yusei Kikuchi
Wheeler (9-5 3.74 ERA) makes his 24th start. He has a 1.11 WHIP 1.6 BB/9 and 10.2 K/9 in 137 innings.
- Last start: Win 6 IP 3 ER 7 H 0 BB 6 K in 8-4 home victory vs. Washington Nationals last Tuesday
- 2023 road stats: 6-3 3.44 ERA (70 2/3 IP 27 ER) in 12 starts
- Career vs. Blue Jays: 0-2 5.19 ERA (26 IP 15 ER) over 5 starts
- 2023 vs. Blue Jays: 0-0 1.29 ERA (7 IP 1 ER) 3 H 1 BB 7 K in 1 start a 2-1 home victory in 10 innings May 10
Kikuchi (9-4 3.53 ERA) makes his 24th start. He has a 1.23 WHIP 2.6 BB/9 and 9.2 K/9 in 122 1/3 innings.
- Last start: Loss 7 IP 1 ER 3 H 1 BB 6 K in 1-0 loss at Cleveland Guardians last Tuesday
- 2023 home stats: 5-2 3.44 ERA (52 1/3 IP 20 ER) in 10 starts
- Never faced Phillies before
Phillies at Blue Jays odds
- Moneyline (ML): Phillies -115 (bet $115 to win $100) | Blue Jays -105 (bet $105 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Phillies -1.5 (+145) | Blue Jays +1.5 (-175)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Phillies at Blue Jays picks and predictions
Prediction
Blue Jays 3 Phillies 2
Moneyline
The Blue Jays are 5-2 this season as home underdogs and are coming off an impressive win vs. the Cubs.
The Phillies are just 26-27 after a loss this year and Wheeler has allowed 3 or more earned runs in 5 of his last 8 starts.
BET BLUE JAYS (-105).
Run line/Against the spread
Toronto +1.5 (-175) should hit but there’s no need to pay the higher price on the run line when the Blue Jays should win straight up.
PASS. Bet the moneyline and/or the total instead.
Over/Under
The Under has gone 7-3 in the Blue Jays’ last 10 games and is 4-2-1 this season when Toronto is a home underdog. Kikuchi has allowed fewer than 2 earned runs in 5 straight starts and should have no trouble vs. the Phillies who are 19th in MLB with just 4.43 runs per road game this season.
BET UNDER 8 (-115).