Pinnacle -1½ +169 BET365 -1½ +150 SportsInteraction N/A BetOnline -1½ +165 Bookmaker N/A

Posted at 1:15 PM EST. 

Atlanta -1½ +165 over KANSAS CITY

4:05 PM EST. We are going to attack the Phillies again today with the consistently inconsistent Vincent Velasquez (RHP - PHI) taking the bump. This season, Velasquez sports just a 34.4% groundball rate combined with a hard hit ball rate of 41.1%. Add a below average swing and miss rate (11.1%) and you have the recipe for a weak favorite. Velasquez isn't the only Phils arm to be under fire and when asked about his team's pitching struggles, manager Joe Girardi said, "I'm never going to discuss that publicly. It doesn't make sense, because what I try to do is worry about the guys that are in that room." By saying he wouldn't discuss his team's need for fresh arms, Giradi totally did just that and who can blame him? The Phillies have blown a league high 23 saves.

Drew Smyly (LHP - ATL) will head out for the Braves and while he isn't great in any one area, there is a reason dude has been in the majors for just about a decade. Smyly is racking up the wins again in 2021 despite the Braves looking like The Walking Dead on most nights. Smyly did take the "L" in his last outing against the Rays, but prior to that, he'd registered a "W'' in five of six. Smyly's pitch count often hovers around 90, which means he's pitching deeper into ballgames than most. Regardless, the Braves are still undervalued in this market, as they appear to be a daily fade target due to their injuries. However, there is tremendous value on Atlanta again today and so we’re going to stick with it.

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