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Phillies vs. Nationals Game 2 Prediction and Odds for Friday, June 17 (D.C. Scoreboard Operator in for Busy Night)

By Matt De Saro

Miami Marlins v Philadelphia Phillies
Miami Marlins v Philadelphia Phillies / Tim Nwachukwu/GettyImages
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The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies have a busy weekend with a five-game series to finish.

Today features a doubleheader between one of the hottest teams in the league and one of the coldest. Game 3 of this series, the second game of this doubleheader, could be an ugly one with a lack of quality pitching on either side.

The Phillies are still a far superior team and I don’t see Washington having the depth to put up too much of a fight tonight. The Phillies have been beating up on much better teams during their current hot streak. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook. 

Phillies vs. Nationals Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

  • Phillies: -1.5 (+100)
  • Nationals: +1.5 (-120)

Moneyline:

  • Phillies -147
  • Nationals +136

Total:

  • 10.5 (Over -115/Under -105)

Phillies vs. Nationals Prediction and Pick

While the Phillies are better top-to-bottom, I do worry that they will falter in this game. Bailey Falter enters this start at 0-2 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 15 innings. This will be Falter’s third start of the year after making the move from the bullpen. So far his transition hasn’t been too bad but Falter still needs to get stretched out fully. He’s yet to pitch into the fifth inning or throw more than 82 pitches in a game.

This could be a problem tonight considering the Phillies have the 20th-ranked bullpen with a 4.24 combined ERA and just 11 saves on the year. We're likely to see this turn into a bullpen game for Philly and that doesn’t usually go well for them. 

The Nationals, meanwhile, start right-hander Paolo Espino, who's made just one start this year in 21 games. The overall numbers are good (0-1, 2.08 ERA), but how much length can he actually provide? Washington has the worst ERA in the league by quite a large margin at 5.50. The next closest is Cincinnati at 5.19. This staff has the worst batting average against, OBP,  and OPS in the league.

There is nobody on this roster that is going to convince me the Nats are a wise choice here. Falter doesn’t inspire me much either so I’m going to take a chance that both guys get beat up tonight. 

Pick: OVER 10.5 (-115)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE

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