Zack Will Be Wheelin' And Dealin' For Philly

Phillies vs. Guardians, 7:00 ET

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there who are mothers or take on the role of a mother. This is always a great day to celebrate special women who have done something for you. Not everyone was lucky to have a great mom, but I am. My favorite thing about my mom was how she was always willing to be a mom for everyone. She used to make my best friend in high school lunches on basketball game days. She cooked for virtually everyone on the block, and was always feeding people in general. I feel like I've always appreciated my mother, but days like today are a little extra special. Hug your mom, if you can't or don't want to, hug someone else's mom (if she is willing, don't just hug a stranger, weirdo). Hopefully, this play on the game between the Phillies and Guardians can fund whatever you bought for mom this year.

The Phillies are starting to come into form the way that I thought they would. If we are being truly transparent here, I was expecting Philadelphia to be the best team in the NL East and then I expected the Braves and Mets to battle each other for a Wild Card spot or two. I don't really know that I'm wrong about that prediction, but I also can't say that I'm for sure correct at this point. For the season, Philadelphia is just two games behind New York (pending what happens in the remainder of the Saturday games as I am writing this Saturday night). They could have a good chance to enter the work week next week tied with the Mets for first place in the division. Zack Wheeler is the guy looking to make that a reality for the Phillies. Wheeler is 3-1 with a 3.35 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He hasn't been quite as sharp as he was last year, but he looks like he is getting into that form. Wheeler has posted four straight quality outings, allowing virtually an identical line in each - five hits, two earned runs, one homer, and seven or more strikeouts. Guardians hitters only have 17 at-bats against Wheeler, but they do have five hits. However, none of those hits went for extra bases.

Apr 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (45) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images

There are two teams in baseball that I continue to have the same thought about: How does this team keep winning consistently? The Guardians and the Rays are those two teams. The Guardians don't have any super big name star - Jose Ramirez is awesome, but I'd be shocked if casual fans knew about just how good he is. They trade away a lot of their stud pitchers as well, but seem to always get someone back that is at least pretty solid. The fact is that Cleveland just knows how to win. For the season, they have an identical record to Philadelphia and they are also just a couple of games behind their division leader. Today, they ask Luis Ortiz to give them a chance against Wheeler. Ortiz is 2-3 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He has shown some games where he looks pretty good, and others where he really struggles. He does have a decent track record against the Phillies, holding them to just eight hits over 42 at-bats. 

This is the rubber match of the series, and unfortunately for the Guardians, they are facing a really good starter. The line is clearly in favor of Philadelphia and I'd be very surprised to see them lose this one. Not only do I think they win, I think they do it by a good margin. I'm going to play the Phillies on the run line here.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024