MLB Premium Play 08/22: Cincinnati Reds @ Philadelphia Phillies

MLB - 955 Cincinnati Reds @ 956 Philadelphia Phillies

(Starting Pitchers: B. Arroyo vs V. Worley)

Both teams are in good offensive moment, especially Philadelphia who has been impressive on offense in all their four games. The Reds will start Arroyo and he is coming from a start against the Cubs, where in 6.1 IP, he allowed 9 hits, 3 runs and had a 3/3 K/BB ratio. This wasn't exactly a great outing, as the Cubs have just 3 LH batters in their lineup and so, this was pretty much a perfect matchup for Arroyo. At the same time, he is a flyball pitcher and so, he typically struggles against Philadelphia by having an 1-7 record against them with a 7.28 ERA! Also note that he had a 4.26 ERA, 5.62 FIP and 5.20 xFIP on his last game against the Cubs, so he is definitely struggling a bit right now, especially when he struggles against LH hitters with .300 BA, .480 SLG, 4.83 FIP and 4.49 xFIP. Philadelphia is hitting .333 BA and .902 OPS against him on 132 AB's, so this will certainly be a tough night for Arroyo.

The problem for Philadelphia is that Worley isn't pitching any better than Arroyo right now. He went winless on his last three starts and he hasn't gone further than 5.1 IP on this span, as he keeps pitching with a bone chip in his elbow. He is coming from another struggling outing in Milwaukee, where he gave up four runs and seven hits in just 4.2IP. He has now given up four runs or more in all his six outings by going a 1-3 record with a 5.91 ERA, 1.781 WHIP and a 24/13 K/BB ratio. He is coming with just 4 days rest for this contest and with a 6.91, 3.83, 6.88 and 6.06 xFIP on his last four games, I believe Cincinnati will pound him big time tonight, especially when the Reds are hitting .400 BA and 1.039 OPS in 35 AB's against him.

With both pitchers heavily struggling today and with both offenses looking very good on this series, I believe this game will once again see a lot of runs being scored like it has happened throughout this whole series and therefore, I'll be taking the Over in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 955/956 Over 8.5 (w/ B. Arroyo & V. Worley) @ +100 / 2.00 on 5Dimes