The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies have shown an awful lot of dominance in this post-season. And BetOnline patrons will no doubt continue to hear about how the playoff format has not been a real indicator of who deserves to be in the World Series. These teams would beg to differ.

The Phillies finished 14 games behind in the NL East, but they have outscored the opposition 31-10 since the playoffs began. This included a win over the East champion Atlanta Braves, who won more games than anybody. The D-Backs secured their wild card spot in the season's final week, and they have swept the NL Central champion Brewers and the NL West champion Dodgers on the way to a 30-11 margin.

Philadelphia got to the World Series last season; will Arizona stand in their way?

We get things underway on Monday, with Game 1 at 8:07 PM ET. Zac Gallen gets the start for the D-Backs; he was 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA this season. Fellow right-hander Zack Wheeler is the starter for the Phillies; he was 13-8 with an ERA of 3.61. Needless to say, the bullpens are rested.

In the baseball playoff betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetOnline, the Phillies are favored at home (Citizens Bank Park), where they have gone 53-32 during the season:

Philadelphia Phillies (Wheeler - R) -161
Arizomna Diamondbacks (Gallen - R) +148

Over 7.5 Runs +105
Under 7.5 Runs -125

Phillies -1.5 Runs +132
D-Backs +1.5 Runs -152
And don't forget that yoiu can do Live Betting at any point in the game - just check it out in the sportsbook interface!

What the Philadelphia pitching staff did against the Braves in the NLDS was nothing short of amazing. Atlanta, which had 307 homers during the regular season, hit only three dingers, and scored just eight times over four games. They had a slugging percentage of .501 this year, but it was just .264 in the four-game series. Greg Olson, who hit 54 homers to lead everyone in the National League, had no extra base hits.

Meanwhile, Nick Castellanos blasted four homers (all of them in the last two games), with Bryce Harper adding three and Trea Turner hitting two, on the way to what was a 1.455 OPS in the series.

So yes, the Phillies are hot.

But wait a minute; so is Arizona. The D-Backs have hit 13 homers in five games. And they held the Dodgers to a .177 average, as they scored just two runs in each of the three games. Tommy Phan exploded with a .429 average. And of course, you can't talk about this team without discussing the super rookie, Corbin Carroll, who hit 25 homers, stole 54 bases and produced an .868 OPS this season.

Gallen went six innings against Milwaukee and 5-1/3 against the Dodgers, giving up two runs in both starts. He's held Trea Turner to 4-of-18 lifetime, and although Harper has a .333 average against him, there are no homers.

Wheeler has had difficulty with two members of the Arizona lineup in particular. Christian Walker is 9-for-17 with four extra base hits and NO strikeouts. Tommy Phan is 5-for-11 with a .600 on-base percentage. How will he handle these guys?

He's handled things pretty well so far in the post-season. Wheeler, who K'd ten Atlanta hitters in his last outing, has gone 13 innings and allowed three runs, with just one walk and 18 strikeouts.

That may be enough to bridge the Phillies over to the bullpen. Their record at home has to be a factor, and remember that this team knows the road to the World Series. We'd rather take the price for laying a run and a half, and at the same time, we might lay -117 for Philadelphia to be ahead after five innings.

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