The Washington Nationals are playing host to the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park. This NL matchup will be televised nationally on Fox and the game gets underway 7:15 p.m. ET.
Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals Odds
Chicago (+130) is coming into this one as the underdog to Washington (-140) and Vegas has the Over/Under for this one at 8 runs. The odds for wagering on the game’s total now stand at -115 for the over and -105 for the under. The game’s most recent runline odds sit at -170 for taking the Cubs +1.5 runs and +150 for the Nationals -1.5 runs.
The Nationals are 18-26 straight up (SU) and 17-26 against the spread (ATS). The team has lost 12.6 units for moneyline bettors and 12.1 units ATS. On the other hand, the Cubs are 26-16 SU and have gone 21-20 ATS. In total, the club has accumulated 4.7 units for bettors taking the moneyline in the season’s early going and 1.5 units ATS.
Neither team has been a strong over/under bet this year. Washington games have an over/under record of 21-19-3 so far in 2019. The Cubs have an over/under record of 21-19-1.
Jon Lester is getting the start for the visiting Cubs. The southpaw Lester is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA and 39 strikeouts. He has yet to face the Nationals this year and only made one start against them in 2018 (0-1, 19.64 ERA and five strikeouts across 3.2 innings).
The Nationals will turn to righty Stephen Strasburg (3-3, 3.63 ERA), who’s got 75 strikeouts and 16 walks, along with a WHIP of 1.05. Strasburg only made one start against the Cubs in 2018 (0-0, 3.18 ERA and six strikeouts across 5.2 innings).
Washington’s pitching staff has yielded 5.2 runs per game overall in 2019 as a unit. The club’s starting pitching staff has an ERA of 4.02, a WHIP of 1.27 and a strikeouts-per-nine of 10.5. The bullpen has a 6.82 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 9.0 K/9.
Washington’s offense is putting up 4.5 runs per contest, including 3.4 per game over its last 10 games and 4.0 per game over its last five. The team has a slash-line of .247/.315/.389 over its last five contests and is 2-3 SU during that stretch.
The Nationals’ batters have been led by Adam Eaton, who is hitting .270/.337/.374 with three home runs, 11 RBIs, 24 runs and five stolen bases.
In the other dugout, Chicago’s pitching staff allowed 4.0 runs per game and its starters own a 3.20 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 8.81 K/9. The bullpen has managed an ERA of 4.04, along with a WHIP of 1.23.
The Cubs offense has slashed .257/.350/.455 on its way to 5.5 runs scored per game this year, including 4.2 runs per game over the team’s last 10 games and 5.6 per game over the team’s last five outings (3-2 SU).
Javier Baez has led Chicago’s offense and is slashing .330/.370/.615 with 11 home runs, 30 RBIs and 34 runs scored.
The Cubs just took the previous game in this series by a final score of 14 runs to six.
Cubs at Nationals Prediction
Predictions: SU Winner – Nationals, ATS Winner – Cubs, O/U – OVER
Betting Trends
- The under has hit in four of Washington’s last seven games.
- The Cubs have hit 16 home runs in their last 10 games, including 10 over their last five.
- The Cubs have an OPS of .805 this season and an OPS of .814 against right-handed pitchers. The Nationals’ OPS stands at .717 overall and .686 versus righties.
- Washington has recorded 18 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 20 over its last five.
