Runs may be hard to come by in this one as Michael Wacha (15-4, 2.69 ERA) and the St. Louis Cardinals (86-46) go up against Max Scherzer (11-11, 2.88 ERA) and the Washington Nationals (66-65) in the last of a three-game series at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won the last game 8-5 and St. Louis leads the series 2-0. The game gets underway at 8:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sep. 2 and will air on MAS2, FSMW and ESPN.
In his most recent outing, Wacha pitched 6.0 innings, allowing zero runs (four unearned), striking out six and walking two in a 5-4 loss to the Giants. The Nationals were unsuccessful the last time Scherzer pitched. He struggled, going 7.0 innings, giving up four runs and striking out eight in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins. Bryce Harper (.333, 92 Rs, 31 HRs, 78 RBIs, 6 SBs) has been hitting the ball well for the Nationals, going 2 for 2 yesterday with one RBI.
St. Louis is a -122 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is six runs. The Cardinals perform well as a favorite with a 72-29 record and have an overall money line of +2,869. They are 7-1 as the favorite over their last 10 games. St. Louis has averaged 5.7 runs per game over the last 10 games, higher than its season average of 4.1. Transitioning to the pitching staff, the Cardinals don’t give up many hits to opposing batters, ranking fourth in the NL with only 8.3 hits allowed per game. An area where the Cardinals are particularly strong is striking batters out, where they average 8.1 K’s per game.
On the other side, the Nationals have a subpar record of 13-24 when they are the underdog and are -1,402 overall with the money line. Over the past 10 matchups, they are 6-4 SU and have a poor 0-1 record when they were an underdog to win. Washington has been playing better lately, averaging 5.5 runs per game, more than their season average of 4.3.
The Cardinals are 4-1 against the Nationals this season. This game will feature Scherzer (RHP) on the mound against the Cardinals, who have a 38-11 home and 66-31 overall record when they take on a right-handed starter. Taking the hill against the Nationals will be the right-hander Wacha. They sport a 49-50 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – StL, O/U – Over
Notes
The Cardinals are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Nationals have a 20-33 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
It looks like the Cardinals have a slight leg up on the Nationals, as the Cardinals have won their last four games while the Nationals have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Cardinals are 53-14. The Nationals have a 52-8 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 17th, St. Louis is in the bottom half of the league in runs, scoring 540 this season. Washington ranks in the top half at 13th with 560.
St. Louis and Washington both rank in the top 10 of the league in walks. St. Louis sits at seventh with 409 this season and Washington ranks sixth with 424.
When the Cardinals hit at least one home run, they are 56-20. When the Nationals hit at least one homer, they have a 49-33 record.
