Where: National’s Park
When: 1:05 EST
The Starters: Pettitte (3-2, 2.81) vs. Zimmermann (3-5, 2.91)
The Line: Yanks -125, Nats +110, O/U 7.5 Runs, Yanks -1.5
Starters – Jordan Zimmermann will take the mound today for the Nats in an attempt to get them back in the win column. Zim has been the most realiable pitcher on the Nat’s staff so far this year, turning in a quality outting almost every time out and pitching deep into games to preserve the bullpen. He’ll have his hands full against this Yankee lineup tonight but he definitiely has the stuff to keep them under control. The Yankees will counter with the immortal Andy Pettitte (who just turned 40 yesterday) who has been great since making his return from retirement. In his 6 starts this year, opponents are only batting .225 against him and he’s striking out nearly a batter an inning (40 K, in 41.2 IP). However 6 starts is a small sample size and at 40 years old it’s hard to know whether he’ll keep this up or not. 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 – Pettitte outduels Zimmermann and Teixeira supplys the offense as the Yankees get their 8th straight win.
Prediction: Yankees 4, Nationals 3
Key Players (Stat Prediciton): Zimmermann (6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 1 BB), Desmond (2-3, HR, 2 RBI), Pettitte (7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 1 BB), Teixeira (2-4, HR, 2 RBI)
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 36 – 26
Jesse’s Picks ATS: 31 – 30