Where: Nationals Park
When: 4:05 EST
The Starters: Francis (2-1, 5.16) vs. Gonzalez (11-3, 3.01)
The Line: Nats -210, Rocks +180, O/U 8.5 Runs, Nats -1.5
Starters – Gio Gonzalez will take the mound this afternoon for the Nationals in an attempt to become he 2nd pitcher in the majors to reach 12 wins (R.A. Dickey) this season. Gio is 8-2 in his last 10 starts and has been very solid for the Nats all season long. However he is currently mired in a little bit of a slump (by his standards), allowing 4 earned runs in each of his last 2 games. One of those 2 starts was against these Rockies, but I think he’ll have a much chance facing them at home this time. The Rockies will counter with Jeff Francis in an attempt to clinch this 3 game series. Francis has never been much better than an average pitcher and this year has been no exeption. However, he has been pretty decent in his 5 starts since a terrible debut (3 IP, 8 ER). In his last 3 starts (one against the Nats) Francis has given up just 4 earned runs in 16 innings (2.25 era). But in the end Francis is still a guy with an era over 5. Advantage Nationals
Lineups – The Nationals lineup is without a doubt the hottest in all of baseball right now. They have managed to get almost every hitter on the team hot at the same time and have now scored 75 runs in their last 9 games for an average of 8.3 runs per game. For a little perspective on how big of a turnaround this is, the Nats scored over 8 runs in a game just once in their first 71 contests of 2012, and now their averaging over 8 in a nearly 2 week stretch. They now reside in the NL’s top 10 in all major offensive categories and have even managed to crack the top 5 in home runs (5th) and Slugging percentage (5th). Statistically the Rockies offense is an absolute juggernaut, ranking 1st or 2nd in the NL in all the big statistics. On top of that they have done it all without the help of star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and with an aging Todd Helton. However, their numbers are totally inflated by playing half their games at Coors Field. The Rockies have actually scored the least runs on the road of any NL team with just 139 in 39 games (3.6 per game). Advantage Nationals
Bullpens – The Washington bullpen era dropped a couple points closer to 3 during the Giants series and remains 3rd best in the NL at 3.05. I’ve been singing this groups praises all year and it seems that they are just getting stronger every series. It will be very interesting to see what these guys can do (and who’s the closer) when they get Drew Storen back later this month. The Rockies bullpen is a pretty mediocre bunch, with a 4.14 era that ranks 9th in the NL. They are probably a bit better than that in reality (Coors Field has hurt their numbers) but other than Matt Belisle and Josh Roenicke (Ian Desmond’s brother in law) there isn’t anyone out there that’s really reliable. Advantage Nationals
Game Summary – The Nationals bounce back from yesterday’s letdown by pounding the Rockies at the plate as Gio deals another gem.
Prediction: Nationals 7, Rockies 1
Key Players (Stat Prediction): Gonzalez (7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 8 K, 1 BB), Morse (3-4, HR, 3 RBI), Francis (4 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 2 BB), Colvin (2-4, 2B, RBI)
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 46 – 35