Its what everyone was thinking, “Is this going to be Pete Alonso’s final at bat with the Mets?” as he stepped to the plate in the Top of the 9th with the Mets trailing by 2. Regardless of what the future holds, Pete Alonso’s blast over the right field wall established his place in Mets’ lore regardless of what happens the rest of this postseason or in future seasons.
His home run Thursday night was the biggest since…well, at least since Francisco Lindor’s home run against the Braves this past Monday. Yes, Alonso’s was bigger and louder but the Mets are on that kind of a roll.
Thanks to that Alonso blast, New York defeated the Brewers 4-2 and advanced to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, people may have forgotten about the Philadelphia Phillies. They coasted to the division title and No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Philadelphia is playoff tested and hungry themselves. The majority of the Phillies have been with this team for the past couple postseason runs that included a trip to the NLCS last October and an appearance in the World Series in 2022. Bryce Harper is the team’s unquestioned leader, and he does so by example as proven by his OPS of 1.089 last postseason.
These two division rivals and geographic neighbors have never met in the playoffs. If the regular season is any indication, this series will be tight. The Phillies took the season series by the slimmest of margins winning 7 of the 13 games.
The Mets surprised many announcing Kodai Senga as the starter for Game 1. Senga has made just one start this season due to triceps soreness. Zack Wheeler gets the start for Philadelphia. He is positioned to start twice in this 5-game series. The former Met was dominant last fall going 3-0 in 4 starts (5 appearances) with an ERA of 1.95.
Lets dive into the matchup.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Listen to the Rotoworld Baseball Show for the latest player news, waiver claims, roster advice and more from our experts all season long. Click here or download it wherever you get your podcasts.
Game details & how to watch Mets vs. Phillies – Game 1
● Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024
● Time: 4:08 PM ET
● Site: Citizens Bank Park
● City: Philadelphia, PA
● TV/Streaming: FOX
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Game odds for Mets vs. Phillies
The latest odds as of Friday morning:
● Moneyline: New York Mets (+155), Philadelphia Phillies (-190)
● Spread: Mets +1.5 (-135), Phillies -1.5 (+115)
● Total: 7.5
Bet the Edge is your source for all things sports betting. Get all of Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick’s insight weekdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Probable starting pitchers for New York vs. Philadelphia
● Saturday’s pitching matchup (October 5): Kodai Senga vs. Zach Wheeler
○ Mets: Senga (1-0, 3.38 ERA) has allowed 2 earned runs and 2 hits while striking out 9 over 5.1 innings.
○ Phillies: Wheeler (16-7, 2.57 ERA) has allowed 57 earned runs and 139 hits while striking out 224 over 200 innings
Rotoworld has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Mets vs. Phillies
- Pete Alonso’s 9th inning blast in Game 3 was the Mets only HR of their series against Milwaukee
- Zach Wheeler broke into the bigs with the Mets pitching for them for 5 seasons from 2013-2019. He did not pitch in 2015 and 2016 due to injury.
- This is Senga’s first postseason appearance.
- These teams combined to score an average of 9.8 runs per game in their 13 meetings during the regular season.
- Pete Alonso reached base 25 times in the 13 regular season games with the Phillies
- Nick Castellanos swung at the 1st pitch against the Mets in 59% of his ABs.
- The Mets finished 10th in baseball in slugging percentage (.415), ninth in OPS (.734), and sixth in home runs (207).
- The Mets allowed 140 stolen bases this season. The Phillies stole the 5th most bases in baseball this season with 148.
- The Phillies are 3-7 against the Run Line on the last 10 occasions that they’ve had a rest advantage
- The Over is 4-1 in the Phillies’ last 5 divisional matchups
Playoff History for New York vs. Philadelphia
- Mets: Own a playoff record of 54-41 all-time. They have reached the World Series 5 times in their franchise history winning in 1969 and 1986.
- Phillies: Philadelphia has made the playoffs now 17 times with an overall postseason record of 68-65. They have claimed the National League pennant 8 times. They won the World Series in 1980 against the Kansas City Royals and in 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the last 10 years, the Phillies have made the playoffs 3 times and won 5 series in those 3 trips to the postseason. - As mentioned previously, these teams have never met in the playoffs.
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for Saturday’s Mets vs. Phillies game
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Saturday’s New York vs. Philadelphia game:
· Moneyline: NBC Sports is staying away from a play on the Moneyline for Game 1
· Spread: NBC Sports is leaning towards a play on the Phillies on the Run Line
· Total Runs: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the OVER of 7.5 Total Runs
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
