The Cubs and Phillies were able to grab wins on Wednesday in Game 3 of the NLDS, meaning we’re treated to two more elimination games on Thursday. The game out west comes first with the Phillies and Dodgers kicking things off in Dodger Stadium at 6:08 p.m. ET. The Brewers and Cubs follow at Wrigley Field at 9:08 p.m. ET.
Let’s hop on some fun wagering, lines courtesy of BetMGM.
Phillies +110
Thanks to the eighth-inning explosion from the Phillies offense, they were able to avoid using closer Jhoan Duran, who could be good for two innings tonight, if needed. Lefty Matt Strahm could be used for an inning. Stud lefty Cristopher Sánchez gets the start and he’s been so good all year. He has been worse on the road than at home, but that’s a 3.02 road ERA. He’s fine.
The Phillies’ lefty starters (looping in Ranger Suárez even though he came in relief because he’s usually a starter and was the bulk guy in Game 3) have had great success against the Dodgers the first time through the order in this series. If Phillies manager Rob Thomson doesn’t leave Sánchez too long here, I like the Phillies’ chances.
Tyler Glasnow gets the nod for the Dodgers, and he’s great. It’ll be tough sledding. Right-handers are better for the Phillies than lefties, though, and Glasnow hasn’t gone more than five innings since Sept. 14. If he doesn’t go around seven, with the Dodgers likely only wanting one inning from Roki Sasaki, that leaky Dodgers’ bullpen gets put under the spotlight.
Schwarber now has 23 home runs in 239 playoff at-bats. He has eight home runs in his last 14 postseason games. It’s actually gotten to the point where it’s somewhat surprising when he doesn’t hit a home run in a playoff game. He hit two in Game 3. We’re gonna try to ride the wave here, and it doesn’t have to be a home run. He’s batting behind Trea Turner. An RBI single works. He’s in front of some power, so a single and then a run also gets us home.
The Cubs and Brewers pit Freddy Peralta vs. Matthew Boyd in a Game 1 rematch. Regardless of what the Cubs do after Boyd, the Brewers are very well set up here and are heavy favorites for good reason. I’m not betting against my favorite team again, especially after they won in Game 3 when I picked the Brewers. Do with that information what you please.
I will ride with Busch, though.
A power hitter in the leadoff spot is always a good play with this prop. The Cubs’ leadoff man — who had 34 regular-season home runs — has made history with two leadoff homers in the same series. The first came against Peralta. He also homered in the Wild Card Series. Looping back to the end of the regular season, Busch has hit 11 home runs in his last 21 games and seven in his last 11. He doesn’t have to hit a home run for this prop, of course. He could just leadoff the game with a double and then score a run and we’ve won already.
And if you have a free home run play, you could do much worse than Busch right now. He’s locked in.
