Where: Chase Field
When: 9:40 EST
The Starters: Strasburg (12-5, 2.97) vs. Cahill (9-9, 3.76)
The Line: Nats -125, Dbacks +115, O/U 8 Runs, Nats -1.5
Starters – The Nationals will send Stephen Strasburg to the mound tonight fresh off the GM Mike Rizzo’s announcement that Strasburg’s innings limit has been bumped up to 180 from the previously stated 160. In the Strasbeast’s last outing he bounced back very well from his worst start as a pro (4 IP, 6 ER), giving the Naitonals 6 shutout innings against the Marlins. He’ll pitch against a pretty hot hitting Diamondback’s lineup tonight, but he should have an advantage because they haven’t seen him since 2010. The Dbacks will counter with right hander Trevor Cahill. Cahill has been solid his whole career so far and this year has been no different. He will occasionally get himself in trouble with walks but overall he’s always a solid bet to turn in a quality start. When Trevor pitched against the Nats back in May he went 7.1 innings and allowed just 1 run on 6 hits. Advantage Nationals
Lineups – The Nationals hitters had a pretty unimpressive series in Houston, scoring just 17 runs in 4 games (4.25 runs per game) against what was essentially a bunch of minor leaguers. However, they were able to win all 4 games and maintain their status as one of the NL’s better offenses. They currently rank no lower than 8th in any major statistic with their highest ranking being 4th in home runs. The Arizona lineup is a very good one and is hot at the moment, having scored 22 runs in their past 3 games (7.33 runs/game). The Dbacks do pretty much everything well, ranking among the NL’s top 5 in every category except for home runs (7th) and steals (14th). Their only weakness is their team speed, they lack a true stolen base threat. Advantage Diamondbacks
Bullpens – The Washington bullpen had a solid series against the Astros, dropping their era to 3.38 which ranks 6th best in the National League. However, they could have had a much worse series, as Tyler Clippard was one spectacular Roger Bernadina catch away from 2 earned runs, a blown save, and a loss. The Arizona bullpen is very similar to the Nationals pen in terms of era, ranking just behind them (7th) with a 3.40 era. They do have had 9 less wins and 1 more loss than the Nats group but wins and losses for pitchers are more about luck than anything else. Advantage Nationals
Game Summary – Both starters turn in solid outings but the Nationals are able to score late to take their 7th straight curly W.
Prediction: Nationals 3, Diamondbacks 2
Key Players (Stat Prediction): Strasburg (6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 1 BB), Lombardozzi (2-3, 2B, RBI, SB), Cahill (7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB), Kubel (2-4, HR, 2 RBI)
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 68 – 44