In-state rivals will begin a four-game series on Thursday night when the Philadelphia Phillies visit the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Philadelphia is coming off a huge series win over the Atlanta Braves capped by a 7-2 win in Wednesday's rubber game as a +126 underdog, improving to 51-47 on the season. Pittsburgh enters with a record of 40-58 after suffering a two-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs including a 4-2 loss on Tuesday as a +175 underdog.
This was a competitive head-to-head matchup last year with the Phillies winning the season series 4-3.
Philadelphia is now just 0.5 games out of an NL Wild Card spot after taking two of three from the red hot Braves incuding a complete team performance in the rubber game on Wednesday. Alec Bohm, Odubel Herrera and J.T. Realmuto all had RBI singles as part of a five-run fifth, while Bohm later added an RBI double.
Kyle Gibson picked up the win with six innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four. Darick Hall recorded a multi-hit game to help the Phillies offense.
“There’s a lot of confidence in this clubhouse,” Realmuto said to MLB.com. “We feel like we stack up well against any team in baseball. We don’t feel like we’ve played our best baseball yet. Hopefully that’s ahead of us.”
Philadelphia is narrowly up on the money line for the season while going a solid 52-46 on t he run line. Overs are 50-44-4 for the Phillies, and only one of their last six games has gone under the betting total.
The Phillies are the seventh-highest scoring team in baseball at 4.61 runs per game on a .724 team OPS. Philadelphia pitching is also solidly above average with a 3.82 combined ERA including a mark of 3.84 from the bullpen.
Kyle Schwarber is providing plenty of pop in his first season with the Phillies, posting an .808 OPS with 31 homers and 60 RBI. Rhys Hoskins has also been a solid contributor with a .798 OPS, 19 homers and 45 driven in.
Ace Zack Wheeler will be on the mound for the 19th time, hoping to continue another spectacular season as he's 8-5 with a 2.78 ERA and 114:22 K:BB ratio over 106.2 innings. The 32-year-old tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out six.
Philadelphia is missing its best player as reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper recovers from thumb surgery, while second baseman Jean Segura is nearing a return from finger surgery. Starting pitchers Zach Eflin (knee contusion), Hans Crouse (biceps tendinitis) and James McArthur (stress reaction in elbow) are out. Relievers Sam Coonrod (strained shoulder), Damon James (shoulder impingement) and Ryan Sherriff (strained shoulder) round out the Philadelphia IL.