Where: National’s Park
When: 7:05 EST
The Starters: Hughes (6-5, 4.76) vs. Gonzalez (8-2, 2.35)
The Line: Nats -135, Yanks +115, O/U 7.5 Runs, Nats -1.5
Starters – Southpaw Gio Gonzalez will take the mound tonight in search of what would be his 7th win in his last 8 starts. Gio has been great all year for the Nats, having allowed more than 3 earned runs just once all year (first start of the season, 4 ER). He’s also been a strikeout machine, with at least 5 in every start this year, putting him in a tie for 5th in the National League with 89 Ks. Gonzalez has been nearly impossible to hit this year, with the lowest opponent batting average in baseball by a full 10 points at .168 (Beachy 2nd at .178) and he’s allowed just 1 homer all season (72.2 IP). The Yankees will counter with 25 year old righty Phil Hughes. His numbers this year are average at best but with the exception of 2 starts (both against the Angels) he’s been pretty solid. Hughes’ strikeout and walk numbers are both good but he gives up too many home runs (15 in 68 innings) and tends to run into big innings. Advantage Nationals
Lineups – The Washington lineup has gotten a little more exciting every week recently with the injection of youth (Bryce Harper, Tyler Moore, Steve Lombardozzi) and return of Mike Morse, but their still somewhere in the slightly below average to average range. The good news is that with the Nat’s having the best pitching staff in baseball, average is good enough. Tyler Moore had his coming out party Wednesday in Toronto, going 3-4 with 2 HR a double and 5 RBIs, if he’s anywhere near as productive in the big leagues as he was in the minors he’ll be a big addition to the lineup. The Yankees lineup is the typical Yankee lineup we’ve got used to seeing the last 20 years; a lot of home runs, a lot of walks, a lot of runs, and a lot of 0′s on their paychecks. The Yanks lead the league in homers and rank top 10 in AVG, R, OBP, SLG, and OPS, pretty much everything but stolen bases. Advantage Yankees
Bullpens – The National’s bullpen continues to do a great job and drop their era a few points on a weekly basis. It’s now down to an even 3.00 which is good for 8th best in the majors. They’re rock solid from top to bottom with no active pitcher who’s thrown more than 10 innings having an era over 3.26 and their back end guys (Sean Burnett, Craig Stammen, Tyler Clippard) have been virtually untouchable. The Yankee pen has also been great despite losing future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera to a freak injury back in April. They have the 3rd best era in baseball at 2.70 with Rafael Soriano doing a great job taking over for Rivera. Like the Nats the Yankees also don’t have a weak link, with the no reliever having an era over 3.50. Advantage Push
Game Summary - Gio gives the Nats another solid start and the lineup grinds out just enough offense as Washington records a 7th straight curly W on a walk off hit.
Prediction: Nationals 4, Yankees 3
Key Players (Stat Prediciton): Gonzalez (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 7 K, 2 BB), LaRoche (2-4, HR, 2 RBI), Hughes (6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB), Jeter (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI)
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 36 – 25
Jesse’s Picks ATS: 30 – 30