ASA TOP PLAY 10* ON OVER the Total - New York Yankees @ Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday at 6:05 PM ET

There is rain in the Philly area this morning and could be some lingering afternoon activity as well. However, forecasts as of now indicate a quieter period in the early evening before rain possibly resumes overnight. In any event, this situation is too strong to ignore and we hope the weather stays away enough that they are able to play the full 9 innings in this one. Zach Eflin is actually the #4 starter for the Phillies but making his first appearance of the season due to prior covid-19 and weather cancellations. Very tough for a pitcher to stay sharp when the season started two weeks ago and yet he is just now getting his shot at game action on the mound! Plus Eflin will be facing a Yankees team whose .491 slugging percentage is tops in the majors. Eflin has good stuff in his repertoire of pitches but he has never been able to fully harness it and has a 4.73 ERA at the MLB level as he now enters his 5th season. The Yankees start Jordan Montgomery here and he'll be facing a Phillies lineup that came to life yesterday with a big 11-7 win in the first game of yesterday's double header. Philadelphia's .424 slugging percentage ranks them 7th among the 30 teams in the majors. Montgomery does have a knack for giving up the long ball particularly in road starts. Also, this will be just his 9th start since his rookie season in 2017 which was the last time he had significant activity at the MLB level. In other words you've got two starting pitchers here who are each question marks to an extent based on the above. You also have two potent powerful lineups and our computer math model is calling for a dozen runs to be scored in this one. Bet the OVER in Philadelphia in early evening action Thursday.