The Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates will play the third game of their 4-game set tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies blanked the Pirates last night 8-0 and are now just 2.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the NL East. Two flamethrowers are expected to square off tonight with Zack Wheeler getting the nod for Philadelphia and Paul Skenes for Pittsburgh. Skenes has not been dominating this year like in the past. He is 6-7 with a 3.10 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. The last time Skenes faced the Phillies back on May 17th he yielded 5 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings of work and Philadelphia went on to a 6-0 win. Zack Wheeler has been at the top of his game, at 8-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, and in June he was 4-0 with an ERA of 1.71. Wheeler last faced the Pirates when he opposed Skenes on May 17th, pitching 7 scoreless innings in their 6-0 rout. He is also 6-1 in his career against the Pirates with a 2.10 ERA and Pittsburgh is 0-8 in Skenes last 8 starts. Everything says Philly.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES