Ricky Dimon

The Phillies have won 22 of their last 27 games, becoming the first MLB team to reach 30 wins this season. Aaron Nola delivered another masterclass on Tuesday and now Philadelphia will try to make it 3 victories in a row to begin this 4-game set in New York. All signs point to another dominant performance for the visitors, as their bats are hot and Ranger Suarez is on the mound. Philly is averaging the 2nd-most runs per game in the majors at 5.2. Suarez is 7-0 with a 1.70 ERA. The Mets are countering with Joey Lucchesi, who has not seen any major-league action in 2024. Lucchesi has been effective at Triple-A Syracuse, but the Phillies are obviously a whole different beast. I expect this to be one-way traffic.

If the Braves have had a regular-season flaw over the past couple of years, it’s failing to finish off sweeps after taking the first 2 or 3 games of a series. The trend continued last weekend at Citi Field, where Atlanta was 1 inning away from a sweep before getting walked off by the Mets on Sunday Night Baseball. Fast-forward 3 days and this time around I think the Braves will get the job done and bring out the brooms. They took the first 2 games against the visiting Cubs with extreme ease. In fact, Chicago has not yet scored a single run in this series. Now the Cubs have to face Charlie Morton, who is 40 years old but pitching like he’s 20. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP to go along with 40 K’s in 43.0 innings. Matt Olson’s bat is starting to heat up, too, which is just a bonus for an already-loaded lineup. Count on Atlanta winning for the 7th time in its last 8 games.

It may not be easy against Pablo Lopez and the Twins, but getting the Yankees at plus-money odds in just about any situation generally represents good value. Today is no exception. The Bronx Bombers are 28-15 overall and 8-2 in their last 10 outings. More success may be on the way with Marcus Stroman toeing the rubber. In his first season in pinstripes, the right-hander is sporting a solid 3.80 ERA, including a 3.52 mark on the road. Lopez has also been solid but unspectacular, with a 3.89 ERA. Minnesota is 7 games over .500 but has lost 2 of its last 3, including a 5-1 setback against the Yankees on Tuesday. Giancarlo Stanton went deep and has hit safely in 8 of the last 9 contests, with 3 dingers during this stretch. I’ll ride with Stanton’s bat and Stroman’s arm in this one.