LA DODGERS V PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES, NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best of 7)
10th October 2008 - 01:20 GMT

Having both gained impressive series wins leading up to this match up it is easy to see why it is such an exciting prospect. The Dodgers have been sharp ever since the arrival of Manny Ramirez and they will need to keep that up for sure if they are to beat the excellent Phillies.
In a much tougher division, the Phillies beat off the heavily fancied New York Mets and surprise package Florida Marlins for a place in the play offs. They have since followed this up by seeing off the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 to clinch their National League final place and will therefore be a formidable opponent.
The Dodgers came in having scraped their way out of a poor NL West division but then produced an excellent series in order to see off the Chicago Cubs 3-0. Part of this however was down to a predictable drop on performance level from the Cubs because they are known to struggle to cope with the expectations laid upon their feet when we reach the latter stages of baseball season.
With a brutal offensive line-up with the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth, the Phillies should really go in as favourites for the series when you look at their opponents personnel and would definitely get my vote to take out a long best of seven series.
Manny is brilliant for sure but is still only one man, and if he is kept relatively quiet it is unlikely that the Dodgers will score the required runs to see off the Phills.
Basic stats checks show that the Phillies had a regular season record of 92-70 compared with that of the Dodgers 84-78 so it is clear which team was the better over the course of a season.
Even money is outstanding value and probably one of the best of the year in baseball for me and you have Extrabet to thank for this. Fill your boots!

STATS
 
RECOMMENDATION - 3.5 Points on Philadelphia Phillies @ 2 (Extrabet )