Where: Minute Maid Park
When: 8:05 EST
The Starters: Jackson (6-7, 3.57) vs. Keuchel (1-4, 5.77)
The Line: Nats -190, Astros +170, O/U 8.5 Runs, Nats -1.5
Starters – Edwin Jackson will take the ball for the Nats tonight in the opening game of this 4 game series in Houston. Jackson has been solid all year and has recovered nicely from a 3 start slump about a month ago in which he gave up 16 earned runs in just 13.2 innings (10.91 era). In his 3 starts since then he has given up just 4 earned runs in 19.2 innings (1.83 era) and tonight he faces a pretty weak Astro lineup. The Astros will counter with rookie Dallas Keuchel, who will be making his 8 major league start. Keuchel got off to a great start to his major league career, as he posted a 1.35 era (20 innings) and recorded one complete game in his first 3 big league starts. However, it’s been a nightmare for him in the four starts since, as he’s gone 0-4 with a 10.42 era over that stretch. Dallas wouldn’t be a major league starter on any team except the Astros (at least not yet) and he has almost twice as many walks as strikeouts (25/14). Advantage Nationals
Lineups – After another solid series at the plate, the Nationals continue to hover right around the middle to upper-middle part of the NL in all the major statistics. They are ranked between 5th and 8th in all of the big categories, and should continue to improve with Werth back and Desmond returning soon (hopefully). The Astros on the other hand only crack the NL’s top 10 in one category (steals, 7th) and rank in the bottom 5 all other statistics. This was a bad lineup early in the year, and after some trade deadline dumps (Johnson, Lee) it’s became even worse. Their most dangerous hitter now is former Nat Justin Maxwell, not very impressive. Advantage Nationals
Bullpens – The Washington bullpen had another solid series against Miami, lowering it’s era to 3.46, which ranks 7th best in the NL. The Nats bullpen has only been responsible for only 12 losses so far this season, that’s the 3rd lowest total in the National League. On top of that Drew Storen is looking like his pre-injury again and recorded his first save of the year yesterday. The Astros bullpen, like every other aspect of the Astros team, is a total joke. They have the worst group era in baseball at 4.97 and have an incredibly bad record of 5-23 (17.6 win percentage). I can’t say for sure that, that’s a record low win percentage for a bullpen but if it’s not I can guarantee it’s real close. I’d guess 95% of people couldn’t name one active Astros relief pitcher, and there’s a reason for that (or many reasons). Advantage Nationals
Game Summary – The team with baseball’s 2nd best record plays the team with baseball’s worst record and to no one’s surprise the Nats pick up another curly W.
Prediction: Jackson (7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 7 K, 1 BB), Zimmerman (3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI), Keuchel (5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 4 BB), Maxwell (2-4, HR)
Key Players (Stat Prediction): Nationals 7, Astros 2
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 64 – 44