For the Philadelphia Phillies, arguably the most important week of the season begins on Monday, when they host the Houston Astros for three games in the city before a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves to determine the winner of the NL East.

The Phillies are the favorites for the series against the Astros at -155.

Houston needs wins to fend off the Seattle Mariners in the American League West and potentially secure one of the top two spots in the AL. The Astros are five games behind the Cleveland Guardians for second place in the AL.

The Astros/Phillies series could produce three consecutive low-scoring duels with strong pitching.

The Phils send Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and home starter Cristopher Sanchez to the mound in that order to face Ronel Blanco, Justin Verlander and Spencer Arrighetti.

Blanco and Arrighetti are solid young pitchers who have helped the Astros get back to first place after a rocky start. Verlander is, well, still Verlander and will be a tough opponent in a playoff-like atmosphere.

Houston has lost 4-2 in its last six games, but never by much. They were ahead for most of Friday’s game in Baltimore before blowing a save, lost by one point on Saturday, and lost 6-5 and 4-1 in Boston last week.

New Pa Online Casino: Check out Cash Eruption slot game and the best online casino bonuses in Pennsylvania

Pitching will determine the course of the series. Blanco has allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of his last nine starts, Verlander is coming off a five-inning return in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits, and Arrighetti has struck out 36 batters in four starts in August.

Wheeler, Nola and Sanchez are all significantly better at home. Wheeler’s ERA is 0.80 points better at home than away, Nola’s ERA is 0.66 points lower at home and Sanchez has a home ERA of 2.18 compared to an away ERA of 5.43. All three Phillies pitchers have a batting average of .220 or less.

Because of the two pitchers, an under 8 bet might be possible on Monday, but for Monday and the entire series, I would bet under 8 in the first five innings in every game.

The starting pitchers are top-notch on both sides, and the bottom half to bottom third of each lineup is questionable at best, making it almost too reliant on the power hitters in each lineup against a group of pitchers that don’t typically allow home runs.