Phillies go for Chicago sweep in pitching showdown between Taijuan Walker, Kyle Hendricks
The Phillies are looking to win their fourth straight game while completing a three-game sweep of the Cubs on Thursday night at Wrigley Field.
The Phillies will try for their fourth straight win and a chance to sweep the Cubs in Chicago on Thursday night before returning home for a three-game weekend series with the last-place Washington Nationals.
They have won 10 of their last 13 and 17 of their last 22, but have made up no ground on first-place Atlanta in the division during that time, remaining 10½ games behind.
In Chicago, the Phillies have won with their arms and their bats. They got a stellar Ranger Suárez outing Tuesday and then scored eight runs to hold off the Cubs, 8-5, Wednesday night.
Thursday, they turn to red-hot Taijuan Walker to try to complete the sweep ... which the Phillies are slightly favored to do.
Here’s a look at Phillies vs. Cubs odds for Thursday night.
Odds are courtesy of BetMGM, current at the time of publishing and subject to change.
Phillies vs. Cubs odds
Money line: Phillies -120; Cubs +100
Run line: Phillies -1.5 (+135); Cubs +1.5 (-160)
Total: 9.5 runs
Walker has been brilliant in June. In 30 innings over five starts, the righty has allowed just five earned runs (1.50 ERA) while posting a 0.83 WHIP to go with 28 strikeouts. The Phillies are 4-1 in those starts.
Remove the June 1 start vs. the Mets, and Walker has allowed just two earned runs in his last 26 innings.
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Advantage Phillies? Not quite.
The Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound Thursday night, and Hendricks is also having a dominant month of June after making his 2023 debut on May 25.
Hendricks has a 2.60 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in his six starts.
Why are the Phillies the slight favorite? Because they have the better lineup, as we’ve seen through two games in this series.
Hendricks is also due for some regression. While his ERA is nice to look at, the underlying metrics point elsewhere. He has a 4.17 expected ERA and has not been great since his 2020 season.
Of note: The run total of 9.5 runs seems to be a bit high considering the pitching matchup.
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