The Daily Sweat: Will the Phillies stay undefeated at home in postseason play?
Citizens Bank Park has been a nightmare venue for opposing teams.
In the MLB postseason, the Philadelphia Phillies are 5-0 at home, including a win Monday in Game 1 of the NLCS over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Phillies jumped all over Arizona starter Zac Gallen, launching three solo home runs in the first two innings en route to a 5-3 victory. Kyle Schwarber blasted the very first pitch of the game off the facade of the second deck. Two batters later, Bryce Harper did the same to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.
In the second inning, Nick Castellanos continued his torrid play by hitting his fifth homer in the past three games. Philadelphia tacked on runs in the third and fifth innings, and that 5-0 advantage was too much for Arizona to overcome, despite a late comeback attempt.
Will the Phillies win another home game Tuesday? The Phillies are -165 favorites at BetMGM to win Game 2. The Diamondbacks are +140 on the moneyline.
The Phillies will start Aaron Nola, and the Diamondbacks counter with Merrill Kelly. Nola had an up-and-down regular season but has been excellent in two postseason starts, allowing only two runs and nine hits across 12 2/3 innings. The Phillies have won both of his starts.
Kelly's lone postseason start was a good one. On the road at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 7, Kelly pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed only three hits in an 11-2 Diamondbacks win. Will that road success carry over Tuesday in Philadelphia?
College football: Liberty look to remain undefeated
There are three college football games on tap Tuesday — two from Conference USA and another out of the Sun Belt.
The tightest point spread of the three games is in the matchup between Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State. BetMGM has WKU as a 7.5-point road favorite over Jacksonville State, which is in its first season as an FBS member.
Jacksonville State started the season 5-1 with a 3-0 mark in C-USA play but dropped its first conference game Tuesday, when it fell 31-13 at Liberty. Other than Liberty, Western Kentucky is the only C-USA team without a conference loss. The Hilltoppers are 4-2 overall and coming off wins over Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech to open their C-USA slate.
With a win, Western Kentucky would stay undefeated in C-USA play and potentially set up a major showdown with Liberty next Tuesday.
Liberty (6-0, 4-0 C-USA) will host Middle Tennessee (2-5, 1-2 C-USA) on Tuesday and is favored by 14.5 points. Liberty is 5-1 against the spread this season and looking to remain one of the 11 undefeated teams in college football.
Over in the Sun Belt, South Alabama is an 18.5-point favorite over Southern Mis. USA won the Sun Belt West last year but has had an up-and-down start to 2023. The Jaguars had a big 33-7 road win over Oklahoma State on Sept. 16 but followed that with losses to Central Michigan and James Madison. The Jaguars blasted UL Monroe 55-7 their last time out and are looking to gain some steam in Sun Belt play.
Southern Miss, meanwhile, is 1-5, and its only win came in Week 1 over Alcorn State, an FCS program. Two of USM’s three losses in Sun Belt play came by just one possession, but pulling off a road upset Tuesday will be a tall task.
NHL: Stars looking for revenge vs. Golden Knights
The NHL regular season is underway, and there are nine games on the schedule Tuesday.
That includes a rematch of last year’s Western Conference final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars. The Golden Knights defeated the Stars 4-2 and went on to win the Stanley Cup. This year, the Golden Knights are off to a dominant start, winning 4-1 in each of their three games.
The Stars opened their season with a 2-1 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and haven’t played since. For this matchup, both teams are listed at -110 at BetMGM.
NBA preseason continues
There’s still another week before the NBA’s regular season begins. But if you can’t wait that long, you can bet on some preseason action.
There are six games to sort through, including the Milwaukee Bucks on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The duo of Giannis Antetokuonmpo and Damian Lillard debuted together Sunday. Antetokuonmpo had 16 points and eight rebounds while Lillard had 14 points and four steals. It’s unclear if they will be on the court Tuesday or if they'll wait for the preseason finale vs. Memphis on Friday at home. The Bucks are 1.5-point favorites at BetMGM.
What's the best bet?
I'm going to roll with the Phillies at -165.
The Phillies' home-field advantage in the playoffs has been just too much for opposing teams the past two years. The past two postseasons, the Phillies are 11-2 at home. And the only two home losses came in last year's World Series vs. the Houston Astros. The Phillies have the better lineup and the better bullpen. I'm not going to overthink this one.
