Halladay's injury, forecast dampen Jays, Phils game
Halladay's injury, forecast dampen Jays, Phils game
Those holding Phillies and Under tickets on Tuesday appeared to be on the verge of cashing in before the Blue Jays got to Philadelphia's bullpen to come out on top and send the game over the total in extra innings. Aaron Hill and Toronto now look to make it two in a row with their ace Roy Halladay on the bench instead of taking his turn in the rotation vs. Jamie Moyer and the Phils in ESPN's Wednesday broadcast.
It’s the Toronto Blue Jays versus the Philadelphia Blue Jays.
It’s been 60 years since former owner Bob Carpenter, Jr. tried to convince people to refer to his baseball team as the Blue Jays instead of the Phillies. The alternative nickname was chosen in a fan contest, but never stuck and was snapped up instead by Toronto’s expansion team in 1977. That, plus their meeting in the 1993 World Series, forms the basis for this week’s interleague “rivalry” matchup at Citizens Bank Park.
Wednesday’s game (7:05 p.m. Eastern, ESPN) was supposed to feature Roy Halladay for the Blue Jays versus Jamie Moyer for the Phillies. But Halladay has a strained groin, leaving Scott Richmond to take the mound for Toronto. You may recall Richmond (3.90 ERA, 4.31 xFIP) as the man who led the Jays to five victories in his first five starts of the 2009 campaign. Then they went 1-4 behind Richmond over his next five starts, and the second-year northpaw was used in long relief in two of his last three appearances.
Moyer (6.11 ERA, 5.03 xFIP) isn’t having quite the same success as he did last season, when he cracked the Top 10 in the money standings with 10.21 units on a team record of 22-11. Moyer was able to strand an unusually high 76.6 percent of his base runners in 2008, but this year he’s back down to a more typical 70.3 percent, and the Phillies are 6-6 in his 12 starts to slip under the poverty line at minus-0.22 units.
Neither man is likely to give his club more than six innings on Wednesday – which makes Tuesday’s result that much more relevant to handicappers. The Jays scored five times in the top of the 10th to down the Phillies 8-3; each team burned through five relievers, including their closers. Philadelphia is already thin in relief with Brad Lidge (knee) and Scott Eyre (calf) on the shelf, compromising the quality of a bullpen that otherwise ranks seventh in the majors with a 3.55 ERA. Toronto’s is in 12th place with a 4.07 ERA.
Thanks to Tuesday’s win as +174 road dogs, the Jays are back in the black with 1.34 units on a record of 35-31. Philadelphia falls to 36-26 (plus-5.61 units) overall and a perplexing 13-17 (minus-10.74 units) at The Bank. Toronto has a more classic home/away split with a 14-18 road record and a deficit of 2.8 units. The Jays are also 2-8 in their last 10 interleague away games, where they lose the services of the designated hitter. That handicap almost cost them Tuesday’s game; Jays pitchers went 0-for-4 at the plate, stranding nine runners, and closer Scott Downs appeared to twist an ankle batting for himself in the top of the 10th.
That explosive 10th inning was a godsend for over bettors, who were staring down a posted total of 8½ runs. The total is up to 10 runs for Wednesday’s matchup, courtesy of Halladay’s absence, with Philadelphia’s betting odds pegged at -130. These are two of the better hitting teams in baseball. Toronto is ninth overall with a .343 OBP, just ahead of Philly at .342, but it’s the defending World Champions with the stronger power lineup and a .461 slugging percentage to .438 for the Jays. Take their DH away, and the visitors are facing an even larger power disadvantage at Citizens Bank Park.
As it happens, there are strong trends for the under in this matchup:
Scoring could be even harder to come by if the skies open up as predicted. The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain at game time and increasing through the night, with light winds blowing from the southeast, or roughly right to left at the stadium. The under is 5-1 at The Bank in these wind conditions.
Those holding Phillies and Under tickets on Tuesday appeared to be on the verge of cashing in before the Blue Jays got to Philadelphia's bullpen to come out on top and send the game over the total in extra innings. Aaron Hill and Toronto now look to make it two in a row with their ace Roy Halladay on the bench instead of taking his turn in the rotation vs. Jamie Moyer and the Phils in ESPN's Wednesday broadcast.
It’s the Toronto Blue Jays versus the Philadelphia Blue Jays.
It’s been 60 years since former owner Bob Carpenter, Jr. tried to convince people to refer to his baseball team as the Blue Jays instead of the Phillies. The alternative nickname was chosen in a fan contest, but never stuck and was snapped up instead by Toronto’s expansion team in 1977. That, plus their meeting in the 1993 World Series, forms the basis for this week’s interleague “rivalry” matchup at Citizens Bank Park.
Wednesday’s game (7:05 p.m. Eastern, ESPN) was supposed to feature Roy Halladay for the Blue Jays versus Jamie Moyer for the Phillies. But Halladay has a strained groin, leaving Scott Richmond to take the mound for Toronto. You may recall Richmond (3.90 ERA, 4.31 xFIP) as the man who led the Jays to five victories in his first five starts of the 2009 campaign. Then they went 1-4 behind Richmond over his next five starts, and the second-year northpaw was used in long relief in two of his last three appearances.
Moyer (6.11 ERA, 5.03 xFIP) isn’t having quite the same success as he did last season, when he cracked the Top 10 in the money standings with 10.21 units on a team record of 22-11. Moyer was able to strand an unusually high 76.6 percent of his base runners in 2008, but this year he’s back down to a more typical 70.3 percent, and the Phillies are 6-6 in his 12 starts to slip under the poverty line at minus-0.22 units.
Neither man is likely to give his club more than six innings on Wednesday – which makes Tuesday’s result that much more relevant to handicappers. The Jays scored five times in the top of the 10th to down the Phillies 8-3; each team burned through five relievers, including their closers. Philadelphia is already thin in relief with Brad Lidge (knee) and Scott Eyre (calf) on the shelf, compromising the quality of a bullpen that otherwise ranks seventh in the majors with a 3.55 ERA. Toronto’s is in 12th place with a 4.07 ERA.
Thanks to Tuesday’s win as +174 road dogs, the Jays are back in the black with 1.34 units on a record of 35-31. Philadelphia falls to 36-26 (plus-5.61 units) overall and a perplexing 13-17 (minus-10.74 units) at The Bank. Toronto has a more classic home/away split with a 14-18 road record and a deficit of 2.8 units. The Jays are also 2-8 in their last 10 interleague away games, where they lose the services of the designated hitter. That handicap almost cost them Tuesday’s game; Jays pitchers went 0-for-4 at the plate, stranding nine runners, and closer Scott Downs appeared to twist an ankle batting for himself in the top of the 10th.
That explosive 10th inning was a godsend for over bettors, who were staring down a posted total of 8½ runs. The total is up to 10 runs for Wednesday’s matchup, courtesy of Halladay’s absence, with Philadelphia’s betting odds pegged at -130. These are two of the better hitting teams in baseball. Toronto is ninth overall with a .343 OBP, just ahead of Philly at .342, but it’s the defending World Champions with the stronger power lineup and a .461 slugging percentage to .438 for the Jays. Take their DH away, and the visitors are facing an even larger power disadvantage at Citizens Bank Park.
As it happens, there are strong trends for the under in this matchup:
- 14-6-1 in Philadelphia’s last 21 interleague games
- 15-6-1 in Moyer’s last 22 starts against winning teams
- 9-5-1 in Philly’s last 15 home games
- 11-6-1 in Toronto’s last 18 games as the underdog
Scoring could be even harder to come by if the skies open up as predicted. The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain at game time and increasing through the night, with light winds blowing from the southeast, or roughly right to left at the stadium. The under is 5-1 at The Bank in these wind conditions.