Baseball Betting: Arizona Diamondbacks at Philadelphia Phillies
Posted On Thursday, July 29th, 2010 By admin
The Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling and look to avoid yet another sweep as they visit a Philadelphia Phillies team that has already taken two of three from them. First pitch is at 7 PM ET.
The Philadelphia Phillies (55-46, 33-18 home) looked like the season was going to be a disappointment coming out of the All-Star break. Picked by many to win the division, they dropped seven of their first eight to start the second half and were in danger of falling out of striking distance in the division. Then they turned everything around with an 11-inning 2-0 win over the Cardinals.
They look to complete their second straight sweep tonight and extend their season-long winning streak to eight after taking two from the Diamondbacks.
Phillies offense has come alive over the winning streak averaging six runs per game, but they will be hard-pressed to continue their offensive output thanks to a spate of injuries. Chase Utley is joined by Jamie Moyer and Shane Victorino on the DL while Jimmy Rollins has been out with a foot injury.
In contrast to the Phillies, the Arizona Diamondbacks (37-64, 13-35 away) are on a six-game losing steak surrendering 29 scores over that time to their 16.
Making his Diamondbacks debut will be Joe Saunders (6-10, 4.62 ERA). Arizona picked up Saunders in Sunday’s trade with the Angels that sent ace Dan Haren to LA. The lefty has a 3.80 ERA in 11 career starts versus the NL with a 6-3 record. His only start against Philadelphia was a win, but that came two years ago.
Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 4.60 ERA) gets the start for Philly. His last outing was a 10-2 victory over Colorado in which he lasted seven innings while giving up just a single run. It was his first start in the majors after being sent down to the minors to give his game a little more seasoning.
