The Phillies enter the postseason playing the best baseball of the eight MLB playoff entries, and that's why they're drawing heavy chalk to win the 2010 World Series.
That the Philadelphia Phillies enter the 2010 MLB betting playoffs as the betting favorites is very low on the surprise meter. The Phillies have won the last two NL flags, earned their fourth consecutive NL East title and started the season around five- or six-to-one to win it all. The fact the Phillies are doing it with all they had going against them this season, that is a mild shock and a testament to talent, depth, management in the front office and in the dugout, and plain ol' luck.
Philadelphia hit the final day of play listed as plus 130 chalk at Bookmaker.com to win the Series. The Phils were prohibitive minus 185 faves to become the first team in 66 years to win three straight NL banners.
How much managers mean in the big league dugouts is always a debatable point; arguments on both sides have merit. Charlie Manuel's influence in Philadelphia seems beyond argument, however. He's been at the helm of MLB clubs for eight full seasons now and won five division titles, one in Cleveland and the last four years in Philly.
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Manuel's roster has been a revolving door with injuries among the position players key to that problem. Jayson Werth and Raul Ibañez are the only players he's had at his disposal the entire season. Ryan Howard missed a little time, but nothing compared to the middle-infield tandem of Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Penciled in for 300 games between the pair, Rollins and Utley will combine for about 200 instead.
What steadied the course all season in Philadelphia was the pitching, specifically the good health among the starting rotation that was bolstered by a deadline deal.
Manuel has enjoyed reliable duty all season from Roy Halladay (22-11, 2.44), Cole Hamels (18-14, 3.09) and Kyle Kendrick (17-14, 4.73) who will each make more than 30 starts. Joe Blanton (17-11, 4.74) will finish with 28 starts, Jamie Moyer (9-10, 4.84) made 19 before going down with an injury and a midseason trade brought Roy Oswalt (10-2, 1.65) over from Houston for 12 more. Those six arms will wind up being used for 97 percent of the starting assignments.
Philadelphia came out of the gate in April on fire, winning seven of its first eight games and making MLB bettors following the team at the start very happy with 5.5 units of profit. But the Phillies ended the season's first month on a 5-9 run to turn those smiles upside down.
The club got back on track in May, winning 12 of the first 15 games to build a 5-game lead in the NL East on May 17. Again, struggles followed the positive burst and by June 12 the Phillies were just two games above even (32-30) and 3½-games back in the division behind the Braves and Mets.
Philadelphia came out from the midseason vacation cold, dropping six of seven and falling seven behind Atlanta in the division, still in third place at 48-46. A 2-0, 11-inning win at St. Louis on July 22 as 150 underdogs ended their road trip and served as the turning point. Including that win, Philadelphia was on a 49-18 run entering Sunday's regular season finale.
The Phillies were up 10 units before game 162 at Turner Field. Bettors who followed the team's 'totals' all season had a slight edge if they were on the 'under' (85-73-3).
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All signs pointed to the Braves taking the NL wild card when the weekend started. But that was before Atlanta dropped the first two of its series with the Phils and the Padres won the first two of their set in San Francisco.
Should Atlanta take the NL wild card, the Phillies will meet the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS. Those two squads met twice in late-June and just before the All-Star break with Philadelphia winning five of the seven games played.
The Phillies swept all four games played at Citizens Bank Park in July after winning one of three in Cincy. The 'under' was the winner in four of the seven baseball matchups.
If the Braves and Padres both win on the final day, it will set up a three-way, sudden-death playoff between Atlanta, San Diego and San Francisco beginning Monday. The Pads and Giants would meet that day in San Diego to decide the NL West, with the loser traveling to Atlanta for a Tuesday match with the Braves to decide the NL wild card.