PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES -131 v. NEW YORK METS +111
Cole Hamels (13-9, 3.56) takes the ball once again for the Phillies looking for his first win since a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on the 11th of July. However, in his 4 starts since that decision, the Phillies are 4-0 and have not lost a Hamels start since July the 6th. In his last five outings, Hamels has pitched 34.2 innings and given up a measly 8 earned runs while striking out 34 batters and walking only 10. This is the Cole Hamels the Phillies have been searching for since the final out in the 2008 World Series.
Hamels and his Phils have consistently struggled in his career, though, versus the Mets, getting 10 career starts and posting a 2-5 record and an ERA just under 4. He has had a pretty great K:BB rate in those starts however (52:17) and seems to just be a victim of lack of support. What else is new? That has been the story for Hamels all season who only has 14 decisions in 22 starts. He has a .500 record and an ERA of 3.56.
Today the Phillies look for their 14th win in 16 games and continue their home series versus the New York Mets who have not been on the same fortunate side of things as have the Phils of late. The Phillies are undefeated in August and have just begun a very fortunate stretch of home games. On the flip side, the Mets are really struggling, going 3-7 in their last 10 games and now find themselves one game under .500 for the year (54-55).
The Mets look to Johan Santana t(11-12, 3.20) to get them back on track in the East division against their hated rivals. Santana’s season numbers are great once again, but the Mets, well, aren’t. He is coming off of back-to-back Met losses in his starts and his most recent was a pretty good one. He struck out 11 and walked only 2 and allowed 4 earned in 7 innings. But, even with his decent outing, the Mets couldn’t score and went down 4-1 in Atlanta. In his last home start, Johan got rocked. He lasted only 5.2 and gave up 7 runs on 13 hits. This was very un-Johan-like. He has been hittable of late and gets a doozy of a task trying to beat the rolling Phils, who are only one game back in the NL East.
It is nice, though, to get a pitcher of Santana’s caliber at plus-money. It seems sensible to put a small play here, but I just refuse to bet against the Phillies right now. Clearly this streak won’t last forever. How long can the Phils honestly ride Carlos Ruiz? But, for now, the Phils are rolling along, have their fans boisterously behind them and have certainly regained their swagger. It’s almost comedic how typical this second half Phils team explosion has become.
No guarantee here, but my play is the Phillies, and with the way Johan has been pitching in his last few versus the way Hamels has been in his, I really like the Phils again.

Add CC today, and play them both -1.5 if you have giant marbles.
NL East watch:
ATL -140 (Hudson) v SFO +120 (Cain):
The Braves do send their ace to the hill in another must win, but it will be no cupcake scoring runs on Cain. San Fran has a super starter every day it seems. Hudson should be up to the task, but can the Mets help the Bravos get that game back they lost last night?
I like the Braves.

good luck today, of course.