The Atlanta Braves rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning against Jhoan Duran thanks to a three-run blast from Austin Riley that propelled Atlanta to a 5-3 victory. On Wednesday, the Braves will look to finish the job against the Phillies as they send Tyler Mahle to the mound. Mahle enters with a 7-10 record, 3.99 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. While Mahle’s season numbers may not jump off the page, he has been pitching much better as of late -- going 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA over his last 10 games.
The Phillies will counter with left-hander Cristopher Sanchez, who enters with a 18-7 record and a 2.91 ERA. However, Sanchez has struggled recently -- going 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA over his last five starts. It’s also worth noting that Sanchez is 0-2 with a 2.25 ERA against the Braves this season and 0-5 in eight career starts in this matchup. While Sanchez has been the stronger pitcher overall, I like the way Mahle has been pitching heading into this matchup. Mahle should be able to limit a Phillies offense averaging just 3.2 runs per game over its last 10, compared to 4.1 for Atlanta. If Sanchez can’t go deep into this game, Philadelphia could also have major problems in the bullpen -- which owns a 4.43 ERA this season compared to 3.44 for the Braves. Atlanta has the momentum, the stronger bullpen and an offense that has been producing more consistently. Look for the Braves to finish off the Phillies, eliminate their division rival and advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Phillies vs Braves prediction: Atlanta ML (+102) available at time of publishing. Playable to -120.
