Oddsmakers have Rays as slight favorite Thursday night as Phillies go for 12th straight road win

The Phillies made it 11 straight road wins when they piled up 17 hits in an 8-4 win Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. The win resulted in a series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the team with the best record in the American League.

Cristopher Sanchez will take the mound for the Phillies on Thursday night as they go for a sweep before heading south for a three-game series in Miami ahead of the All-Star break. Tampa Bay will go with an opener for the second straight night, this time Shawn Armstrong.

While Sanchez has been solid for the Phillies in four starts, oddsmakers like the Rays to avoid a sweep Thursday night.

Odds are courtesy of Caesars, current at the time of publishing and subject to change.

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Money line: Phillies +115; Rays -135

Run line: Phillies +1.5 (-170); Rays -1.5 (+143)

Total: Nine runs

The Phillies are a money line machine on the road right now. Their 11 straight road wins are two wins shy of matching a franchise record 13 straight road wins in 1976.

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The Rays might be slight favorites, but like Wednesday night, Thursday’s game feels like a toss-up. Sanchez, who had a 2.40 ERA in 15 June innings (three starts), is probably due for a bit of regression. But the same was expected of Wednesday night’s starter, Taijuan Walker. The Rays got to Walker early, but then the righty rolled.

Sanchez’s stat line in June, though, has a big caveat: Two of those starts came against the Athletics and Nationals.

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There is reason to like the Phillies on Thursday night, especially if you think Wednesday’s offensive outburst is a sign of more to come. Also, Tampa Bay used an opener Wednesday, Yonny Chirinos, a starter who has been coming out of the bullpen and lasted only 2⅔ innings. The Rays used six pitchers in the game. The Phillies, meanwhile, have had consecutive days of their starter going seven-plus innings and have a well-rested bullpen heading into Thursday’s series finale.

While Tampa Bay’s bullpen has been pretty reliable, it has also been pretty lucky based on batted-ball profiles.

Armstrong, meanwhile, has been very good for the Rays. On the season, he has a 1.15 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 15⅔ innings. Thursday will mark Armstrong’s second time being used as an opener. He pitched two shutout innings on June 7.