The St. Louis Cardinals are 8-3 in their last 11 games on the road. After going 0-2 at home through the first two games of this series, the Cardinals must find a spark on the road if they hope to fight back in this series.
- St. Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals (Matchup Report)
- Date/Time: October 14, 7:38 p.m. ET
- TV Coverage: TBS
- Sportsbook Odds: St. Louis +110 / Washington -120 | O/U 7.5 (Line History)
- Starting Pitchers: WAS Strasburg (20-6, 3.25 ERA), STL Flaherty (12-9, 2.75 ERA)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Washington has been the more popular side for bettors this weekend, moving the Nationals to -128 favorites while the Cardinals are now +118 underdogs. Expectations of another pitchers’ duel have lowered the line on the total from 7.5 runs down to 7.
St. Louis News & Notes
In their last road game, the Cardinals roared out of the gate with a 10-run first inning against the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS, eventually matching their offensive production through the first four games of that series in a 13-1 victory. Jack Flaherty pitched six innings of one-run ball in that win, striking out eight along the way.
St. Louis could use another performance like that one to help change the momentum of its series against the Washington Nationals. The Cardinals have managed to score only one run in 18 total innings against the Nationals, wasting strong starts from Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright. The team will try to turn things around in Washington where they are 5-1 in their last six road games against the Nationals.
Washington News & Notes
The Nationals offense that scored 21 runs in the final four games of the team’s NLDS victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers has managed to score only five total runs through the first two games of this series. But thanks to excellent pitching performances from Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and the bullpen, Washington returns home with a commanding 2-0 lead in this series.
Washington now turns the ball over to Stephen Strasburg, who through 15 innings this postseason has a 2.40 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP while the Nationals are 3-0 in the three games he’s appeared in. The Nationals are 11-1 in their last 12 games at home and 4-0 in their last four games overall.
Betting Pick: Washington -128
St. Louis’s offense is due to wake up at some point in this series, but so is Washington’s. Given how hot the Nationals are right now and how great they play at home, it’s going to be tough to pick against them.
- St. Louis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games against Washington.
- Washington is 14-2 SU in its last 16 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Washington’s last 8 games vs St. Louis.
