MLB Baseball
2012-04-05 - Philadelphia Phillie at Pittsburgh Pirates
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Thursday 5 April 2012 - First Pitch 1:35pm ET
6:35pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
This was one of the biggest rivalries in baseball up until a recent realignment meant the interstate teams do not play each other as much as they used to. Stories are still told by the old timers of the dislike between the teams, but the rivalry has definitely been tempered by the lack of opportunities to play one another in recent seasons.
The Philadelphia Phillies are the better team these days and remain one of the favourites to win the World Series behind an exceptional pitching staff. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a much smaller ambition as they look to end the longest active stretch in baseball since their last winning season.
Philadelphia will need their pitching staff to be at their best as they will be missing some big pieces of their offense. Ryan Howard is out until June, while Chase Utley is on the shelf indefinitely. The Phillies have looked to fill in this holes by bringing in the likes of Jim Thome, Juan Pierre, Laynce Nix and Ty Wigginton as they look to improve on their runs scored which put them in 7th in the National League last season.
Roy Halliday will be sent to the mound after a 19-6 finish last season with a 2.35 ERA. The pitcher is 3-1 against Pittsburgh, improving his ERA to 1.18.
Pittsburgh may only have finished with a 72-90 record last season, but they improved by 15 wins on the 2010 season. They feel a lot better about their chances of improving again this season, especially considering the likes of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder are no longer in the Division.
They will send Erik Bedard to the mound to open the season for them as they have a few injuries to their pitching rotation. Bedard finished last season with a 5-9 record and a 3.62 ERA and he has a strong 2-0 record against Philadelphia with a 1.71 ERA although he hasn't faced them since 2006.
Head to Head
Philadelphia won the season series between the two teams 4-2 in 2011, winning the last 4 games.
Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia 2-1 at home last season and have now won 6 of their last 8 at home against their interstate rivals.
Other Interesting Trends
Pittsburgh finished last season with an 11-23 record in their final 34 games at home.
Philadelphia are 20-7 in their last 27 road games as the favourite and Roy Halliday on the mound.
They are 24-8 in their last 32 road games against a left-handed pitcher.
Prediction
I am going to back the Philadelphia Phillies to cover the run line in this game for the following reasons:
First, Roy Halliday has had a very strong record against Pittsburgh, including pitching in a 3-7 win here last season.
Second, Philadelphia are missing two big pieces of their offense, but they have made some signings that can certainly swing the bat and put up enough runs to help their very strong pitching staff.
Third, the Phillies have really improved against left-handed pitchers in the last few seasons, going 60-36 in the last 3 seasons, since Erik Bedard last pitched so successfully against them.
The Pick :
Pittsburgh Pirates 2-5 Philadelphia Phillies
