Where: Coors Field

When: 8:40 EST

The Starters: Strasburg (9-1, 2.46) vs. Francis (0-1, 8.56)

The Line: Nats -185, Rocks +165, O/U 9.5 Runs, Nats -1.5

Starters – Stephen Strasburg will take the mound tonight for the Nationals in an attempt to record a win for the 7th consecutive start,  which would be a franchise record. Now over halfway to his post Tommy Johns innings limit of 160, Strasburg has made the most of his 84 innings pitched in 2012 with a National League leading 110 strikeouts. Strasbeast also has a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio, .214 Opp BA, 1.04 WHIP, and has only allowed 6 homers…he’s good. The Rockies will roll the dice with southpaw Jeff Francis who has been hit hard in his 3 starts since being called up earlier this month. Francis has always been pretty mediocre in his career, never posting a season era below 4.16, but he gets a little bit of a pass for spending all but one year of his career pitching home games at Coors Field. After getting rocked (pun intended) in his first 2 starts, Francis seemed to figure some things out in his last outing, allowing just one run in 5 innings. Against this struggling Nationals lineup he should be okay if he can keep the ball down. Advantage Nationals

Lineups – The Nationals lineup is coming off yet another series where they struggled to score, crossing the plate just 5 times in 3 games at Camden Yards. They are now outside the NL top 10 in every major offensive statistic except home runs (8th) and slugging percentage (10th). Youngsters Harper, Lombardozzi and Desmond have all cooled off a bit while veterans Zimmerman and Morse struggle (through injuries) just to stay above the Mendoza line, not a good combination. The Rockies on the other hand have quietly been one of the NL’s best offensive teams despite injury issues for their stars Tulowitzki and Gonzalez. Colorado ranks in the NL top 5 in every major batting category and lead the league in both home runs (89) and slugging percentage (.450). Playing at Coors Field obviously doesn’t hurt their numbers but this team can hit anywhere. Advantage Rockies

Bullpens - The Washington bullpen did cough up an 8th inning lead last night to the Orioles, but they still have the third best era in the NL at 2.94. They have a really solid group of guys from top to bottom and they all seem to be settled into a role now, which makes life easier for them. They also should be getting a boost in a few weeks with the return of Drew Storen, who began throwing off a mound last week. The Rockies bullpen is currently right near the middle of the pack in the NL with a 3.83 era (9th). Their group consists of a bunch of unknown guys with the exception of former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie, who was recently demoted to the pen after a string of bad starts. Overall they have done a decent job though, this team’s problem is their starters not their relievers. Advantage Nationals

Game Summary – The National’s bats finally wake up and give Strasburg enough support to cruise to his 7th straight curly W.

Prediction: Nationals 6, Rockies 3

Key Players (Stat Prediction): Strasburg (7 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 10 K, 0 BB), Espinosa (3-4, HR, 3 RBI), Francis (5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 2 BB), Fowler (2-4, 2B, RBI, SB)

Jesse’s Picks W/L: 42 – 28