MLB Friday April 22nd Brewers at Phillies Betting Preview
Milwaukee Seems to Have Shaken Off Slow Start
Most people figured it was just a matter of time before Milwaukee got into the groove, and indeed they bring a 4-game win streak into the April 22nd Brewers at Phillies betting matchup. Granted, the last three have come at home against Pittsburgh and Milwaukee only managed a 2-2 split in their series with the Cardinals before that, so maybe this team isn’t out of the woods yet.
Philadelphia’s hard-hitting lineup was supposed to have a power surge in Colorado the last series, but they dropped two of three to the Rockies including 4-1 and 6-5 the first two games. The Phillies broke out a bit with a 9-6 win on Wednesday though, and are now back home trying to improve on a 3-3 record at Citizens Bank Park.
Brewers Back on the Road
Milwaukee played their first two series’ of the season away from American Family Field, and they only managed to go 3-3 even against the Cubs and Orioles who aren’t expected to be even above .500 on the year. The Brewers bounced back to go 5-2 on their home stand, but now they’re heading on a trip once again.
Craig Counsell’s squad has plated 21 runs the last four games, bringing their scoring average up slightly to 3.54 runs/game which is still 22nd in the MLB. Most people knew Milwaukee’s offense was going to be a problem this season, and Omar Narvaez is the only Brewers batter with an OBP above .333 the past week. Kolten Wong (3-18), Christian Yelich (2-14), Lorenzo Cain (1-8), and Willy Adames (2-18) are among a slew of Milwaukee players hitting under .200 the past week.
Even with a sub-par offense the Brewers are still tied atop the NL Central with St. Louis thanks largely to their pitching staff. Freddy Peralta (0-1, 11.57) tries to get his season on track after two rough outings to start the year. Peralta gave up 3 ER in 4.0 IP in his season debut, and was even worse in his second start surrendering 6ER over 3.0 IP in a 10-1 loss to the Cardinals.
Phillies Breaking Out?
It was supposed to be a nice stat-padding visit to Coors Field for Philadelphia, but they managed just 1 run in Monday’s loss and got only a Kyle Schwarber HR in Tuesday’s defeat. Schwarber did go long again on Wednesday (into the 3rd deck) and was joined by Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm, and Johan Carmago – but that was the type of production we were expecting to see all week.
Philadelphia has dropped 7 of their last 9 and needs to start getting on a little run as they are bringing up the rear in the NL East. A hot streak could get going in the April 22nd Brewers at Phillies betting matchup against the struggling Peralta, Castellanos is 7-13 in his career vs. Peralta and Bryce Harper has 2 HR in 7 career ABs vs. the Milwaukee starter.
Ranger Suarez would take some run support on Friday night as he comes into his third start of the year 1-0 but with a 5.67 ERA. The left-hander allowed 2 ER over 5.0 IP last time out and got his pitch count up to 78, much better than lasting just 2.2 IP in his opener.
Free April 22nd Brewers at Phillies Betting
Oddsmakers have the Phillies as -125 favorites, and there’s obviously some value in 1st place Milwaukee as a +105 underdog. Peralta will get better at some point after he posted a 2.81 ERA a year ago, but the Phillies roster has had success against them in their careers. The public is split nearly 50/50, but that’s a good price on the home team too.
Free Pick: Phillies -125
