Phillies-Rays Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays will both be gunning for a victory on Wednesday when they meet at Tropicana Field in Game 1 of the World Series. The Phillies will pin their hopes on the pitching of lefthander Cole Hamels in this game. Hamels had a 16-10 record and a 2.92 ERA this season. Hamels' opponent in this one will be Scott Kazmir. The Rays ace lefthander had a 3.54 ERA to go along with a 13-8 record this season. Oddsmakers currently have the Phillies listed as 103-moneyline favorites versus the Rays, while the game's total is sitting at 7½. The Phillies finished off the Dodgers with a 5-1 win in Game 5 to clinch the NLCS last week, advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1993. The Phillies won the game as -118 favorties, while the six runs fell UNDER the posted over/under (7.5). Ryan Howard went 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI for the Phillies. Hamels allowed one run off five hits over seven innings for the win. Matt Garza went seven strong innings on Sunday night to lead the Rays to a 3-1 win over the Red Sox and a berth in the World Series. The Rays got the victory as +120 home underdogs in that Game 7, while the combined score fell UNDER the night's posted total (8.5). Garza gave up just one earned run on two hits and fanned nine over his seven innings of work in the win. Willy Aybar homered for Tampa Bay on the night. Team records: Philadelphia: 92-70 SU Tampa Bay: 97-65 SU Philadelphia most recently: When playing on Wednesday are 8-2 Before playing Tampa Bay are 2-8 After playing LA Dodgers are 8-2 After a win are 7-3 Tampa Bay most recently: When playing on Wednesday are 4-6 Before playing Philadelphia are 7-3 After playing Boston are 7-3 After a win are 6-4 A few trends to consider: Philadelphia is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games Philadelphia is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 7 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Philadelphia's last 9 games Tampa Bay is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Philadelphia The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games at home Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Philadelphia The total has gone OVER in 13 of Tampa Bay's last 19 games at home Next up: Tampa Bay home to Philadelphia, Thursday, October 23