Seattle (10-12) at Philadelphia (11-12)
When: Tuesday, April 25th 2023
Where: Citizens Bank Park,
Philadelphia, PA
Time: 6:40 ET | TV: mlb.tv
Opening Odds: Seattle -109/8.5
Two teams that made the postseason last year, look to build on the momentum they gained over the weekend when the Seattle Mariners visit the Philadelphia Phillies Tuesday night to start a three-game series. The defending National League champion Phillies got off to a rough start but have now won seven of 10 after taking the last three against the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
The Phillies did it with the long ball, bashing seven home runs in the last three games and getting to within one game of the .500 mark. Nick Castellanos hit his first two home runs of the season Saturday then Bryson Stott, Kody Clemens, Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner each hit one homer in Sunday’s 9-3 victory over the Rockies.
The Mariners also started slow but are coming off a winning series against the St. Louis Cardinals at home over the weekend. Seattle now embarks on a nine-game road trip that starts in Philly and ends in Toronto and Oakland. The Mariners, who have already played 12 games against the National League (6-6), are 4.5 games behind first place Texas in the AL West.
Jarred Kelenic has the hot bat for Seattle, hitting a home run in each of the last two games. He leads the team with six home runs and a .319 batting average. Kelenic batted just .168 over his first two seasons in 500 at-bats. The Mariners are slight road favorites with Logan Gilbert on the mound opposite Bailey Falter.
Pitchers: Mariners – Logan Gilbert (1-1, 3.57) | Phillies – Bailey Falter (0-3, 4.50)
This will be Gilbert’s fifth start of the season and it’s been an inconsistent first four. Gilbert followed a solid outing at Wrigley Field by getting knocked around by the Milwaukee Brewers at home. He surrendered four runs over six innings including two home runs, but did strike out eight. Gilbert struck out nine Phillies in his only start against them last May, but allowed four runs over five innings in taking the loss.
Falter is looking for his first win of the season and much of that can be contributed to the lack of run support. The Phillies have scored a total of six runs in his four starts and the team is 1-3 in those games. Falter allowed three hits and three runs over seven innings of work in his last outing at the Chicago White Sox. He allowed one run over 4.2 innings last May in the Phillies’ 4-2 win over the Mariners and Gilbert.
The Phillies’ bats are starting to heat up and the team has won three in a row in the process. Gilbert has been decent this season, but not worth of being a road favorite in this one. I’ll take Falter and the Phillies.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free MLB Picks page for today.
Pick: Phillies +110
