Phillies Turn to Hamels, Move Closer To NL East Lead

The Philadelphia Phillies (75-63, 62-76 RL, 61-72-5 O/U) may be in a close race with the New York Mets for the NL East division title, but they will have to get past the red-hot Washington Nationals (53-85, 74-64 RL, 64-69-5 O/U) tonight in order to take another step toward their stated goal of winning the division this fall.

The Nationals are the hottest team in the National League coming into tonight’s contest, having won seven straight games and nine of their last 11 overall, including a convincing 7-4 win over the Phillies on Monday.

"We're going through one of those good times now," Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "We've got to keep doing that for the rest of the month and it'll be a fun last three or four weeks."

The Phillies have dropped five of their last seven games after watching the Nationals snap their modest two-game winning streak on Monday.

"We're not gonna let this one game get us down," Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley said. "We're gonna battle back like we always have. This month is obviously extremely important so we'll see what happens."

The Phillies will turn to staff ace Cole Hamels, (11-8, 3.13 ERA) to shut the Nationals down tonight and stand an excellent chance of doing just that as Hamels has gone 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in his last five starts.

In his last start, Hamels limited the Chicago Cubs to one run on five hits in seven innings of Philadelphia’s 6- loss on Thursday.

The Nationals will counter with right-hander John Lannan (8-12, 3.92), who is coming off a solid outing in his last start, limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to two runs and four hits in six innings in Washington’s 11-2 win on Thursday night.

The Nationals are batting .336 and averaging 7.8 runs over their last six games.

"That's what we've been missing the whole season," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "Now guys are swinging the bats throughout the whole lineup, and it helps."

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

The Phillies are 4-0 in Hamels' last four road starts vs. a team with a losing record.

The Phillies are 23-3 in Hamels' last 26 starts vs. a team with a losing record.

The Nationals are 4-12 in Lannan’s last 16 starts on grass.

The Nationals are 2-6 in Lannan’s last eight starts after scoring five runs or more in their previous game.

The Under is 4-1 in Hamels' last five starts vs. a team with a losing record.

The Over is 4-0 in Lannan’s last four starts vs. a team with a winning record.

The Under is 5-0 in Hamels' last five starts vs. Nationals.

The Phillies are 5-1 in the last six meetings in Washington.

MLB Odds

Philadelphia Phillies -1½ -130

Cole Hamels –L -210

Washington Nationals +1½ +110

John Lannan –L +175

Over 7½ -115

Under 7½ -105

Analysis: The Nationals are swinging the bats very well right now, but I fully expect Phillies crafty left-hander Cole Hamels to ‘dial it up a notch’ and keep Washington’s bats silent while leading Philadelphia to a much-needed victory.

MLB Free Picks: Philadelphia 5 Washington 1