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posted June 25, 2008 at 17:27 in MLB Articles

The Philadelphia Phillies, (42-36, 35-43 RL) may boast one of the most prolific offenses in all of baseball, but that fact hasn’t helped the Phillies or the BetUS online sports wagering population that likes to wager on MLB Baseball, very much lately as they have dropped six straight games coming into tonight’s matchup against the Oakland Athletics, (42-34, 42-34 RL) including Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss.

Philadelphia has watched its powerful offense struggle mightily during the span as they have scored just 14 runs combined in the six losses.

"We've got to kick ourselves and come out of it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We're not hitting and we know we can hit. We haven't scored 400 runs to this part of the season for nothing."

Philadelphia could have its work cut out against talented A’s rookie Greg Smith (4-5, 3.51). The left-hander has allowed just over his last two starts covering 10 innings and limited the Arizona Diamondbacks to one run on three hits in five innings of Oakland’s 2-1 win on Thursday.

The Phillies will counter for the BetUS online MLB baseball betting population by sending right-hander Kyle Kendrick, (6-3, 5.06 ERA) to the mound, but will need the young hurler to throw the ball better than he has in a while as he has a poor ERA but has been helped out by his teammates putting up over nine runs per game in his last 12 starts.

Kendrick couldn’t escape a pounding in his last start as he allowed six runs on six hits in just three innings of a 7-4 loss to Boston Red Sox last Wednesday.

Phillies’ all-star second baseman Chase Utley is just 2-for-22 (.091) with one RBI during Philadelphia’s losing streak.

Here is a look at tonight’s key online sports wagering trends followed by my analysis and MLB online betting Free Picks.

The Phillies are 4-0 in Kendrick’s last four starts as a road underdog.

The Phillies are 5-0 in Kendrick’s last five road starts vs. a team with a winning record.

The Athletics are 5-2 in Smith’s last seven starts as a favorite of -110 to -150.

The Athletics are 5-2 in Smith’s last seven starts as a favorite.

The Over is 4-0 in Kendrick’s last four interleague starts.

The Under is 8-1-1 in Smith’s last ten starts overall.

Analysis: While the Oakland A’s have the slightly better starter on the mound tonight and are playing better baseball than their counterparts tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies are way overdue for a win and should get a good enough performance out of Kendrick to actually win this matchup, likely striking late against some poor A’s reliever. Either way, I say the Phillies get a much-needed win here.

MLB Free Picks: Phillies 6 A’s 5

10:05 PM EST MLB Odds

Philadelphia Phillies

Kyle Kendrick - R +1½ -175

Oakland Athletics

Greg Smith - L -1½ +155

Over 8½ -120

Under 8½ EV

Interleague

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