Phillies face the Dodgers
The Phillies open a three-game set with the Dodgers tonight out in Los Angeles. The Phils are riding a four-game winning steak and sit three games behind the Mets in the NL East. Despite their strong recent run, the current odds at SportsBettingDime list the Phils as a +148 underdog tonight. 
 
The Phillies completed a two-game sweep of the Yankees on Sunday. Aaron Nola was outstanding, tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings while allowing only three hits and one walk while whiffing nine batters on 103 pitches in the Phillies’ 7-0 win at Citizens Bank Park. 
 
“I had better control and command of all my pitches today, I felt like,” Nola said. “I feel like against this team, you really have to just go after them. And that was kind of the game plan, just to get ahead. I feel like for the most part today, I was ahead of most of the hitters. Got behind a few of 'em. Better things happen when you're ahead in the count.” 
 
Offensively, the Phillies remained hot on Sunday. The team hit 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position while Andrew McCutchen drove in a pair of runs. Jean Segura and Odubel Herrera also remained steady, setting the table for the lineup with a combined five hits. 
 
“It just gives us a lot of confidence,” added skipper Joe Girardi. “You're going on a tough West Coast trip. Two teams that are playing extremely well. But there's confidence in that room, and in baseball confidence is important because there's so much failure.” 
 
Spencer Howard will start the series opener tonight, aiming to bounce back from his previous start against the Nationals where he lasted just 2 1/3 innings. The Dodgers counter with righty Tony Gonsolin who will be making just his second start of the season. He walked five in his first outing, surrendering five walks over just 1 2/3 innings. 
 
The Phillies will head to San Francisco following their set with the Dodgers. 
 
“At the end of the day, baseball is baseball,” said McCutchen. “ A team has to win. They got to throw a pitch and catch it, so it doesn't necessarily matter who we're facing. I mean, we just faced the Yankees and they're pretty good. That's the way we just treat it.”

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