The gamble the Philadelphia Phillies took on drafting Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.39 ERA) the left-handed pitching phenom out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego in the 2004 major league draft, could bear fruit today when he takes the mound to start game one of the NLDS for the NL Eastern Division Champions against the Colorado Rockies, the NL Wild-Card team. The Rockies will counter with their own left handed ace, Jeff Francis, who finished the regular season at 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA.
Hamels was part of the Phillies late season surge helping the team overcome a 6 ½ game deficit behind the division leading New York Mets back in mid-September. Today’s game will be the first start for Hamels against the Rockies this season.
Francis has three career starts against the Phillies resulting in a 1-1 record with one no-decision. Francis last started at Philadelphia on Sept 13 giving up 8-runs on 8-hits in 3.1 innings.
Oddsmakers at sports wagering giant Sportsbook.com have installed Hamel’s and his Phillies teammates a -155 money line favorite with a 9-run total.
Betting trends have the Phillies drawing the most of the love from early gamblers having placed 73 percent of money line wagers on Philadelphia while 84 percent expect the total to fly over the 9 run total. The price of an OVER totals bet is currently sitting at -150. There are no current betting trends on run line wagers.
The Rockies were a major-league best 20-8 in September, after trailing 6 games on September 1. They won their last 13 of 14 games, including 11 in a row, the most of any team in the 2007 season and an all-time franchise record. Their 90-73 regular season mark set a franchise record.
As a result of the Rockies' remarkable September run , the team finished the regular season tied with the Padres for the wild card spot in the playoffs. The two teams played a one-game playoff regular season play-off game at Coors Field on Monday to determine the wild card. The game lasted thirteen innings, and although the Padres got two runs off of a Scott Hairston home run in the top of the thirteenth to break a 6-6 tie, the Rockies came back in the bottom of the thirteenth by scoring three runs off of closer Trevor Hoffman to win 9-8.
Checkout our live Major League Baseball betting lines showcasing real time odds of the world's top online sportsbooks all in one easy to use location. Get line movements in real time and find out who has the best college football betting odds.
