Phillies vs Blue Jays: Betting preview & picks for Wednesday September 21st

The Philadelphia Phillies were beaten by the Toronto Blue Jays in an explosive game on Tuesday evening where 29 total runs were scored. Losing 18-11 isn’t exactly what any coach wants to see, although from a fan perspective there was a never-ending run of excitement, with runs being scored in every single inning.

There’s one more game in this series and it is one the Phillies will have to get up for. They’ve now dropped five straight and even though they blasted 11 runs in last night’s defeat, there’s clearly still a lot of work to be done. There were several defensive errors and the pitching effort was quite simply atrocious – a throwback to the early season Phils, if you will.

It’s Wheelsday in Philadelphia and fans will be hoping that his return to the mound is a successful one.

Pitching matchup

Zack Wheeler (11-7, 3.07 ERA) vs Kevin Gausman (12-10, 3.45 ERA)

The Phillies’ ace will return to the mound Wednesday night as Zack Wheeler returns from injury. Wheeler has missed three weeks due to right forearm soreness, and the team wanted to put Zack’s health as their first priority. Wheeler will be used as an opener in this game and Noah Syndergaard will come into the game after Zack is done. He is expected to have a pitch count, or inning limit, in his first start back, which could be problematic if Gausman starts out piping hot.

Speaking of Gausman, he went 7 innings in his most recent start but September hasn’t been pretty. He’s given up 5 runs in each of his last two starts.

Betting preview

Surprisingly, the Phillies are actually favored to win tonight. I would argue that a likely restricted Wheeler being backed up by Noah Syndergaard, whose performances are like a coin flip at this point, isn’t a smart place to bet. It unfortunately makes sense to back Toronto here as slight underdogs. This definitely means that the Phillies are about to explode and win 13-0, so take that with a pinch of salt.

Whatever your betting decision, you can get a free bet of up to $1,000 with this FanDuel offer.

Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire