Orioles vs. Nationals Thursday Prediction
The Washington Nationals’ bats fell silent last night in a 3-0 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Will the Nats find a way to give Max Scherzer some run support when these two teams play their rubber match Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. ET?
Game Snapshot & Odds
919 Baltimore Orioles (+250) at 920 Washington Nationals (-300); 7 runs
Thursday, June 21, 2018
7:05 p.m. ET, Nationals Park
TV: BAL (MSN2); WSH (MASN)
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Public Betting Trends
Oddsmakers from online sportsbooks currently list the Nationals as a -300 favorite. As of this writing, 77% of the betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Natioanls to beat the Orioles on the moneyline. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on this game.
Orioles’ Gausman strikes out seven in tough-luck loss to Marlins
Kevin Gausman pitched well in a losing effort against the Marlins on Friday, surrendering just two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. Gausman punched out seven on the night while walking three. He allowed an RBI single to Brian Anderson in the fifth inning and an RBI triple to Lewis Brinson in the sixth, but that was the extent of the damage. Unfortunately for him, that was the entirety of the offense in the game for either team. The inconsistent right-hander will look to further improve upon his 4.40 ERA and 1.40 WHIP when he takes on the Nationals in Washington on Wednesday.
Nationals’ Scherzer takes loss despite striking out 10 Blue Jays
Max Scherzer struck out 10 while surrendering two runs on four hits over six innings in Saturday’s 2-0 loss Blue Jays. Despite offering up his typically dominant stuff, Scherzer found himself on the losing end of Saturday’s contest due to one bad pitch which resulted in a two-run homer by Devon Travis with one out in the fifth inning. That’s all the Blue Jays managed against him, but with Marco Estrada pitching effectively on the other side, that two-run dinger ended up being the difference in the game.
Setting aside the sour result, this was Scherzer’s 10th game of double-digit strikeouts in 15 starts this season. He’s pitching to a Cy Young-worthy 2.06 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 152/23 K/BB ratio (100 2/3 innings) for the campaign as a whole.
MLB Betting Trends
Baltimore
The Orioles are 1-6 in their last seven games versus the Nationals and 1-4 in their last five games placed at Nationals Park despite winning last night.
Washington
The Nationals are 45-18 in Scherzer’s last 63 starts and are 15-5 in his lsat 20 home outings.
Prediction:
I’m not up for laying the -1.5 on the runline for a Nationals team that has been so inconsistent with the bats recently. We know Scherzer will pitch well and Gausman actually has healthy strikeout (22.1%) and groundball (44.4%) rates this season, plus has pitched better than his 4.62 ERA would indicate. With so many strikeouts littered throughout the Orioles lineup and the Nationals coming off a game in which they couldn’t score a run off Andrew Cashner and the Baltimore bullpen, I like the under tonight.
The Pick: Orioles/Nationals under 7