Phillies vs. Blue Jays Preview: Odds, Pitching Matchup and Props for Aug. 8

The Phillies (62-54) will try to even their home series with the Toronto Blue Jays (54-62) starting at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8. Staff ace Zack Wheeler struggled against the Blue Jays the previous day and, despite two runs in the ninth inning, the Phillies couldn’t come up with the tiebreaking run.

Both teams sport a 3-2 record over their past five games, trying to find another gear in the wake of the trade deadline. Tonight’s matchup, aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia, will pit a pair of former struggling superstars against one another: 42-year-old Max Scherzer versus the Phillies’ Aaron Nola.

Betting Odds

• Moneyline: TOR +136 / PHI -159
• Run Line: TOR +1.5 (-152) / PHI -1.5 (+127)
• Over/Under: 9.5 (Over -116 / Under -104)

Weather

There’s a 20 percent chance of rain in the 6 p.m. hour, with temperatures likely to sit around 84 degrees for much of the game. Humidity north of 70 percent will create a clammy feel for those in attendance, and winds out of the west-southwest between 7 and 15 miles per hour could push fly balls out to right field.

Pitching Matchup

Currently on the back nine of his career, Blue Jays’ veteran Max Scherzer carries a dismal 7.92 ERA into tonight’s game over 30.2 innings pitched, walking 1.63 batters per inning pitched and fanning just 6.75 batters per nine innings. He’s dealt with significant injury concerns this season, appearing in just three games since the calendar flipped to May, but put up a season-best six innings of one-run ball his last time out.

32-year-old Aaron Nola (5.55 ERA, 120 innings pitched, 1.44 WHIP and 9.07 K/9), on the other hand, has more of a chance of righting the ship amidst the second-worst year of his career.

Phillies vs. Max Scherzer

Scherzer spent a good deal of his career in the National League East with the Nationals and the Mets, so some of the older Phillies have a high level of experience against him. His former Nationals’ teammate, Bryce Harper, holds a career .269 average (7-for-26) with four homers and two doubles. Kyle Schwarber has two homers across 20 at-bats, while Bryson Stott boasts a stellar .571 average (8-for-14)… perhaps a better indicator of who Scherzer is at this point in his storied career.

Alec Bohm (7-for-24 with a homer) is a candidate to bounce back; J.T. Realmuto, meanwhile, holds a miserable .106 batting average (7-for-66), dueling Scherzer at the height of his Cy Young-winning powers.

Props

Nola’s strikeout line sits at 4.5 for this matchup, more a question of his ability to pitch deep into the game than his ability to rack up whiffs. The Blue Jays hold a 12-for-54 (.222 batting average) career mark against Nola with three home runs and eight walks, but he isn’t the pitcher he used to be.

At the plate, pessimists could target J.T. Realmuto to continue his struggles… although he could get the last laugh in the twilight of Scherzer’s career. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott’s total bases props are another area to monitor given both their success and Scherzer’s struggles.

Tidbits

• At Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia holds a 31-29 (.517) straight-up record.
• The Toronto Blue Jays are playing .500 baseball over their last 20 games (10-10), with their matchups heavily favoring the under (65.0%) during that stretch.
• Over their last 10 games, Toronto has played to a 6-4 straight-up record, while the Phillies sit at an even 5-5.