Phillies vs Braves Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for May 25 (Philadelphia Relies on Offense in Road Victory)

The Atlanta Braves (30-19) will aim to strengthen their lead atop the NL East when they host the Philadelphia Phillies (23-26) in the first matchup of their four-game series on Thursday, May 25.

Phillies vs Braves Game Info

• Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
• Time: 7:20 p.m. ET
• Venue: Truist Park – Atlanta, GA
• Coverage: NBCSP and BSSE

The Braves are set up well in terms of their quest to win a sixth straight divisional title but still have a ways to go until that can be completed. They enter this four-game series fresh off a series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, while the Phillies are coming off a series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Phillies vs Braves Odds & Spread

• All MLB betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: PHI: (-106) | ATL: (-110)
• Spread: PHI: -1.5 (+146) | ATL: +1.5 (-176)
• Total: 9 -- Over: (-120) | Under: (-102)

The Braves enter this contest as slight home favorites on the moneyline per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7:20 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 9 runs with the over favored at -120 odds.

Phillies vs Braves Betting Trends

• Philadelphia is 2-8 straight up in its last 10 away games.
• The total has hit the under in six of Philadelphia's last seven games on a Thursday.
• Atlanta is 4-1 straight up in its last five home games against Philadelphia.
• The total has hit the over in seven of Atlanta's 10 games.

Phillies vs Braves Prediction & Pick

Winning at Truist Park is never easy, but the Phillies are sending their ace to the mound in Aaron Nola. Nola finished fourth in Cy Young voting last season and owns a 4.31 ERA s well as a 1.07 WHIP across 10 starts in 2023 (4-3 record). He has allowed fewer than 3 earned runs in three of his last five starts.

The Braves will counter with Dylan Dodd, who is set to make the fourth start of his career. The 24-year-old rookie has posted a 6.46 ERA and 1.83 WHIP across 15 1/3 innings so far (7 strikeouts). Those stats make it seem like Atlanta will need to lean on its offense as it ranks seventh in runs per game (5.12).

The only problem is that the Braves average only 4.56 runs per home game versus 5.71 runs per away game. That does not bode well for their chances of getting to Nola considering the Phillies pitcher has logged a 3.39 ERA in 30 career starts against Atlanta. I'll back the road team in this one.

Final Score Prediction: Phillies: 5 | Braves: 4

Phillies vs Braves Best Bet

The Phillies fought their way back from a 5-0 deficit on Wednesday to earn a 6-5 win in extra innings, which is exactly what the team needed to get its offense back on track. Philadelphia now gets to face a young pitcher who has allowed 10 earned runs over his last 10 1/3 innings and an Atlanta bullpen that has allowed 166 hits on the year (No. 20 in MLB). That lines up as a recipe for an offensive outburst.

Bet: Philadelphia Phillies Over 4.5 Runs (-106)

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.