The Phillies are poised at home to advance to the World Series again, but their pitcher might need a lot of run support.
The Philadelphia Phillies are up 3 games to 1 in the National League Championship Series and can put the Los Angeles Dodgers away tonight in game 5. If the Phillies do not win game 5 tonight then they might be in a little bit of trouble heading back to Los Angeles for both game 6 and, if necessary, game 7. The pitching match-up sees lefty Cole Hamels for Philadelphia going against Vicente Padilla for the Dodgers.
Hamels has had an average season for the Phillies and, at this point in his career, he does not look like the type of pitcher that you would want on the mound to close out a series. He's picked up a win against the Dodgers in this series but that was despite giving up 4 earned runs on the mound and giving up two homeruns (in just over 5 innings pitched). Also the Dodgers have been strong against the left-handers this season so Philly might need an offensive outburst to win this game or an uncharacteristically strong pitching performance from Hamels.
The Dodgers have to be happy to be sending Vicente Padilla to the mound here. The former All Star has been dynamite since joining the Dodgers and he has been very effective in limited starts. He won game 3 to close out the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals and he was also very effective against Philly earlier in this series, despite not picking up the win (7.1 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 earned run). Padilla is the type of pitcher you would want on the mound in a situation like this so Los Angeles looks like the pick to make.
With Players Only the Dodgers are priced as road underdogs at +130 (13/10) while the Phillies come in at -140 (5/7). Our recommendation is to take the Dodgers to win this game as they have the edge on the mound.