Morning Coffee: Phillies, Rangers on track to meet in World Series

The Philadelphia Phillies were 13-to-1 to win the World Series at FanDuel when the MLB postseason began.

At the time, the Texas Rangers were 22-to-1 to win it all.

This morning, both of those teams are two wins away from a trip to the World Series and the obvious top two choices to win it all at FanDuel.

The Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-0 in Game 2 of the NLCS on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

Teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-seven have gone on to win the series 84.3 per cent of the time. Those teams are a combined 75-14 all-time.

Philadelphia is down to +115 to win the World Series. Only Texas has shorter odds to win it all at +110 odds at FanDuel right now.

This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday Oct. 18, 2023.

Phillies, Rangers on track to meet in World Series

The Phillies and Rangers both entered the MLB postseason as long shots to win it all. Now, it seems almost inevitable that Philadelphia and Texas will meet in the World Series.

Last night, the Phillies improved to 6-0 at home this postseason with a dominant 10-0 win over Arizona.

Kyle Schwarber became the third Philly batter to register a multi-home run game in these playoffs.

Aaron Nola slammed the door shut on the Diamondbacks offence over six innings as Arizona was blanked for the first time in postseason franchise history.

Philadelphia was +700 to win the National League at FanDuel when the playoffs got underway. The Phillies are now -820 to represent the NL in the World Series.

Philadelphia is a -132 ML favourite for Game 3 in Arizona on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the Rangers are -130 to beat the Houston Astros in Game 3 and take a 3-0 series lead in the ALCS tonight.

Texas could be found as high as +950 to win the American League at FanDuel at the start of the postseason. The Rangers are now -460 to represent the AL in the World Series.

The Astros are +110 to win tonight and +360 to win the ALCS.

Liberty a big favourite for Game 4 of WNBA Finals

The Las Vegas Aces get another chance to clinch a WNBA championship in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty tonight.

Based on the direction the spread has moved at FanDuel, bettors think the Liberty will force a Game 5.

Coming off an 87-73 win over Las Vegas in Game 3 to avoid elimination, New York opened -2.5 for Game 4 at FanDuel. That number has moved all the way to Liberty -5.5 over the past 48 hours.

New York went from -142 to -215 on the money line.

No team in WNBA history has ever rallied from down 2-0 to win a best-of-five playoff series. Teams that trail 2-0 in a best-of-five series are 0-17 all-time, including 0-8 in the finals.

That didn’t stop bettors from jumping on the Liberty to win Game 4.

Regardless of what happens next, this WNBA season will be remembered for the fact that it was always expected to come down to a battle between these two teams with the championship on the line.

If New York can tie the series with a win tonight, it will set the stage for an epic winner-take-all showdown with a Game 5 on Friday night.

Will Tkachuk, Senators light the lamp again tonight?

In Tuesday’s column, I highlighted an NHL prop bet with a 100 per cent success rate through four games.

This morning, I’m shining the light on a couple of other NHL bets that have been perfect through three games.

The Ottawa Senators have won two of their first three games and are set to host the Washington Capitals in one of two games on tonight’s NHL slate.

The GIFT, or a Goal In The First Ten minutes, is 3-0 in Ottawa’s first three games of the season.

Additionally, the game total has gone over in each of the first three games the Senators have played.

The total for tonight’s game is set at over/under 6.5, and it’s juiced to the over at -118.

We’ll have to keep an eye out for their odds for a Goal In The First Ten minutes for tonight’s game.

Meanwhile, Brady Tkachuk 2-plus goals has cashed in each of Ottawa’s last two games.

Tkachuk didn’t score in three meetings with the Capitals last season but did register three assists in as many games.