The Washington Nationals are 5-0 over their last five games. The Nationals host the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night with a chance to extend their winning streak to six games and to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
- St. Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals (Matchup Report)
- Date/Time: October 15, 8:05 p.m. ET
- TV Coverage: TBS
- Sportsbook Odds: STL +142/WAS -157 | O/U 7.5 (Line History)
- Starting Pitchers: WAS Corbin (14-8, 3.42 ERA), STL Hudson (16-7, 3.31 ERA)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
After going off as a favorite of -126 in both Game 2 and Game 3, Washington is now up to -157 in this potential close-out game at home. At +142, St. Louis is the biggest underdog it has been this postseason.
St. Louis News & Notes
St. Louis was held in check for the third straight time in this NLCS, scoring only one run while being struck out 16 times. It was another best-case scenario game for the Nationals, who with an 8-1 lead in the seventh inning could turn to Fernando Rodney and Tanner Rainey to close out the game after Stephen Strasburg went seven strong, giving their key bullpen guys the night off.
The Cardinals have now scratched out only two runs of offense in their last 33 innings. Patrick Corbin has been Washington’s least effective starter this postseason with an ERA of 7.56 and a WHIP of 1.68 through 8.1 innings of work; now’s as good a time as any to show some signs of life. St. Louis is 4-9 over its last 13 games.
Washington News & Notes
With a four-run third inning and eight runs through the first seven innings of Game 3, Washington gave its pitching staff run support for the first time in the NLCS, not that they needed it. The Nationals have been on a dominant run since losing Game 3 of the NLDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers, stringing together five straight wins and outscoring their opponents 26-6 over that stretch.
Washington is now 15-2 over its last 17 games and does not appear to be in any danger at all of losing four straight games. The end of this series feels close, and it could put the Nationals in great position to rest up and set their rotation while the New York Yankees and Houston Astros slug it out in the ALCS.
Betting Pick: Washington -157
Thirty-seven teams in MLB history have gone up 3-0 in a best-of-seven series, and 29 of those teams (78.4 percent) have gone on to complete the sweep. With the way these two clubs are playing, the Cardinals don’t look like a team that’s going to buck this trend.
- St. Louis is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games against Washington.
- Washington is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home.
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Washington’s last 9 games against St. Louis.
