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The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 7:20 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Truist Park in Atlanta and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. A couple of quality right-handers are set to the mound: the Phillies’ Ranger Suarez and the Braves’ Charlie Morton.
The Phillies (20-23) were on their way to a victory Tuesday after a clutch Bryce Harper homer gave Philly a one-run lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. Then some typically awful defense contributed to a Braves comeback win and another tough Phillies defeat. Harper is now batting .426 with 14 extra-base hits, six homers and 16 RBIs in his past 13 games. Suarez has pitched to a 4.12 ERA but has tossed a quality start in two of his previous three turns.
The Braves (20-23) are kind of spinning their wheels in the aftermath of their World Series title. Ronald Acuna Jr. has a .292/.400/.446 slash line with two home runs and 10 runs scored in 17 games since his return from the injured list. Marcell Ozuna has four homers and eight RBIs during his current 11-game hit streak. Morton has given up only four earned runs in his past 16 innings pitched. He owned a 2.19 ERA through five starts against the Phillies last year.
Phillies vs. Braves
Pitchers: Ranger Suarez vs. Charlie Morton
First pitch: 7:20 p.m. ET
Phillies local broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Braves local broadcast: Bally Sports Southeast
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run line: PHI +1.5 (-145), ATL -1.5 (+125
Run total: Over 9 (+100), Under 9 (-120)
Moneyline odds: ATL -165, PHI +145
Moneyline pick: Braves -165
As long as Morton doesn’t get burned by Harper, he should turn in a solid performance today. It’s difficult to bet on the Phillies bouncing back on the road after losing a ninth game in which they held a lead.
Player prop pick: Bryce Harper over 0.5 runs (-105)
Harper is batting .350/.480/.600 with a homer and five walks in 25 career plate appearances versus Morton. He will definitely be walked at least once tonight as he presents an exponentially bigger threat than anyone else in that lineup right now. Given that plus his overall success versus Morton, Harper should be on base at least twice today. Hopefully, he can get a little bit of support from teammates batting behind him to pay off on this prop.
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