Nationals vs. Marlins Pick
Are the Washington Nationals going to dominate the host Miami Marlins Tuesday night at 7:10PM EST?
Sports book Bovada.lv has listed the Nationals as a -185 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Marlins are a +160 underdog, while the over-under is set at 8.5. Washington is -120 to win on the -1.5 run line, while Miami is +100 on the +1.5 run line.
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Drawing the start for the Nationals will be Stephen Strasburg (11-4, 2.90 ERA), while the Marlins are going with Odrisamer Despaigne (0-2, 4.13). Strasburg carries a 1.07 WHIP with 164 strikeouts over 142 2/3 innings. He threw a complete-game against the same Marlins his last start, giving up six hits while striking out eight and walking one in a 4-0 home victory. He has a 2.23 ERA in 12 road starts. Despaigne has a 1.41 WHIP with 16 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks over four innings in a 3-2 home loss to the Phillies his last outing. He has a 2.25 ERA over 16 home innings.
Washington enters with an 83-43 record and is 43-27 on the road, while Miami is 67-70 and 37-33 at home. The Nationals have won seven of the last 10 meetings including the last six. The over-under is 5-4-1.
On Monday, Washington rolled to a 7-2 victory in the series opener. Anthony Rendon was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs to lead the way. Daniel Murphy went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs. A.J. Cole allowed two runs (one earned) over 5 2/3 innings for the win. Giancarlo Stanton paced the Marlins with his 53rd home run of the season. Adam Conley gave up three earned runs in four innings to take the loss.
The only advantage the Marlins have is that they saw Strasburg last week, but it’s still Strasburg and the fact is he dominated them in that start. Despaigne is not a very good starting pitcher, one who allows a lot of medium and hard contact albeit with a high groundball rate. The Nationals have dominated the Marlins in recent meetings and we see no reason why that won’t stay the same for another day.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: NATIONALS RL -120