The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies saw their 9/10/18 schedule at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park postponed due to rain. Despite the ground crew trying the unconventional by using blow torches to get the game going, it wasn’t enough to make the field playable for the Nationals and the Phillies.
To make up for the postponed game, both teams had a double header on Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the Nationals won both games, taking Game 1 with a 3-1 tally and Game 2 via 7-6 score. Philadelphia has now lost four out of their last five games and have now lost 10 out of their last 14 games. They will try to salvage a win on Wednesday to keep within striking distance of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
The Nationals were rained out on consecutive days and their weekend series against the Cubs had to undergo hours of rain delay. They are currently third in the National League East at 73-72 and are 7.5 games behind the Braves and 1.5 off the Phillies after winning both Tuesday games.
Stephen Strasburg will start on top of the mound for the Nationals. The 30 year old right hander was was supposed to be Tuesday’s starter but was bumped after Sunday’s rained out game. Strasburg enters Wednesday’s game with a record of 7-7 in 18 starts this season. Strasburg has an ERA of 4.04 and a WHIP of 1.21 this season.
In his last start, the former San Diego State Product did not factor in the decision as the Nationals lost to the Chicago Cubs 4-6 last September 6, 2018. Strasburg pitched 5.2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks with six strikeouts. Strasburg is 1-0 in two starts against the Phillies last month. He gave up a total of 7 runs on 12 hits with one homerun in a combined 10 innings pitched. Current Phillies’ batters have a .302 batting average against him this season.
Anthony Rendon has found the most success against Phillies’ starter AAron Nola this season. The Nationals’ third baseman has five hits in 13 at bats (.385) against Nola in 2018. The other Washington players who have at least two hits against Nola this season are Ryan Zimmerman who is 2 for 3 and Trea Turner who is 2-12.
The Phillies enter this game 6 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League team standings. With the Braves taking on the struggling San Francisco Giants in their current series, the Phillies need every win they can get if they want to catch up.
Starting for Philadelphia is the right handed Aaron Nola. Along with Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer, the 25 year old is one of the favorites to win the Cy Young award in the National League. Nola has started 29 games this season and has put together a record of 16-4 with an ERA of 2.29 and a WHIP of 0.96. Nola leads the National League in win percentage (80%) and is second in wins, innings pitched (188.2), ERA and WHIP. He is also fourth in the league with 196 strikeouts.
Nola got the win in his last outing, as the Phillies beat the New York Mets 4-3 last Friday. Nola allowed three runs on three hits and and one walk while striking out 8 across seven innings of work. Nola is 3-0 in four starts against the Nationals this season. In a combined 28.2 innings pitched he has only allowed 5 runs on 18 hits while limiting Washington to a .180 batting average.
First baseman Justin Bour leads all Philadelphia batters with three hits in four at bats against Washington starter Stephen Strasburg. Bour’s 2 RBI effort against Strasburg came last May 27th when he was still with the Miami Marlins. Asdrubal Cabrera is also 2-7 against Strasburg this season.
The Phillies are 13-3 in Nola’s last 16 starts against teams with losing record and 10-2 in his last 12 starts against their National League East rivals. Moreover, Philadelphia is 16-5 in their last 21 games after losing the first two games of a series.
On the other hand, the Nationals are just 2-8 in the last 10 Game 3s that they have played in and are 1-4 in their last five games against right handed starters. They are also just 3-7 in their last 10 road games against right handers.
Sure, Washington has won the last two meetings and now lead their season series 10-8 but the Phillies have been winning with Nola on the mound. At home, Nola is 9-1 with an ERA of 2.21. Strasburg has pitched well against the Phillies but he’s up against a Cy Young candidate in this one and I think Nola wins this pitching duel. We’re picking the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Washington Nationals on 9/12/18.
The run total here, set at 7, should be an interesting pick because Aaron Nola is 9-1 at home with a 2.21 ERA and Stephen Strasburg is 5-2 on the road with an ERA of 2.42. Furthermore, Strasburg won his only start at the Citizens Bank Park this season, allowing just two runs in six innings pitched.
Total Runs Odds: Over 7 -125, Under 7 +105
Odds from Sportbetting.ag as of 9/11/18
The trend tells us that the under is 15-5-3 in Nola’s last 23 starts against National League East teams and is also 36-17-1 in the Nationals’ last 54 games on the road. I think this will be a pitching duel and the under is a winning pick here. Prediction: Under 7
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