Betting Preview: Washington Nationals vs St. Louis Cardinals

The NLCS begins tonight with the Washington Nationals heading to Busch Stadium to collide with the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1. The Nats (+115) give the ball to Anibal Sanchez, while the Cards (-135) counter with Miles Mikolas with the total coming in at 7.5 runs.

Odds Analysis

Two teams enter this game with back-to-back victories to close out their NLDS matchups. For Washington, it needed to mount a late-game comeback capped off with a Howie Kendrick grand slam in the top of the 10th to send Los Angeles packing. Meanwhile, there were minimal sweats for St. Louis as it jumped on Mike Foltynewicz early in Game 5 putting up a 10 spot in the top of the first and cruised to a 13-1 victory.

For tonight’s game, the odds are right around where they should be. Mikolas has been favored in 13 of his 15 home starts this season and the Cards went 9-6 SU and 6-9 ATS and had an average line of -141 over that span. Similarly, the Nats have been dogs in 10 of Sanchez’s 15 road appearances with an average line of +111, but they have a winning record of 8-7 SU and 10-5 ATS.

Washington News & Notes

The Nationals staved off elimination in back-to-back games to knock off the 106-win Dodgers who had been cruising into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak. Outside of Game 1 and 3, the two Washington lost, the pitching staff did a great job in keeping the LA bats in check, allowing a combined 6 runs over its three victories, while surrendering 16 in its two losses. Offensively, the Nats were blanked in Game 1 but racked up 21 in four games following. Third baseman Anthony Rendon is one to watch as he has a .350 batting average and four extra-base hits in the postseason.

This is the second start for Sanchez in this year’s playoffs, getting the ball in Game 3 against the Dodgers and performed well. The 35-year-old hurled five innings of one-run ball on four hits while striking out nine. The bullpen, notably Patrick Corbin, let that game getaway after Sanchez left the game. Anibal had one home start against St. Louis in late April and gave up three runs on five hits over five innings in a 3-2 loss.

St. Louis News & Notes

The pitching staff was on its ‘A’ game through St. Louis’ NLDS matchup with Atlanta, giving up a combined 17 runs over five games. Offensively, the Cards were held to a combined one run over their two losses in Game 2 and 3 but overall racked up 26 in the series which are the most in the playoffs thus far. St. Louis’ big offseason acquisition, Paul Goldschmidt, has been crushing the ball, hitting .429 with six extra-base hits, including two home runs, while Marcell Ozuna has driven in five runs.

Mikolas is toeing the slab for the third time in the playoffs and has allowed one run on three hits over six combined innings thus far. He started the series-opener at Atlanta tossing five innings of one-run ball on three hits and then had a perfect inning in the 10th to close out Game 4. Mikolas had a respectable 3.01 ERA at Busch Stadium this year and he made two starts against the Nationals as well. The first game came at Nationals Park where he tossed six innings of one-run ball allowing seven hits in a 5-1 win. The second was a home outing in mid-September where he allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings in a 6-2 loss.

Betting Pick: Nationals Moneyline

The fact that Washington hit Mikolas in both appearances this season and as recent as under a month ago should instill confidence throughout its lineup. Granted, the scoring didn’t come with the hits, the fact that it was threatening should be something the keep an eye on. Additionally, Anibal Sanchez has been much better on the road than he has at home, sporting a 3.48 ERA and limiting opposing batters to a measly .224 average. Lastly, knocking off the Dodgers should give the Nats a feeling of invincibility and their confidence will be booming in Game 1.