In a rematch of the 2019 World Series, the Washington Nationals (26-38) will be taking on the Houston Astros (37-29) in a three-game series starting Friday. The Astros will host this one at Minute Maid Park, with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
The Astros are the favorites in this one playing at home. They are -270 to win, while the Nationals’ moneyline sits at +220. The runline features Washington +1.5 (+112), and the over/under for total runs is eight.
Nationals Look To Improve Recent Play
While the Nationals’ record overall has been less than stellar, they have really struggled lately, dropping seven of their last 10. Luckily, as they look to bounce back, they have played better on the road (14-17) than at home (12-21).
Taking the mound for the Nationals in the opener is lefty Patrick Corbin. The 33-year-old is 4-6 in 13 starts with a 4.89 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and he has struck out 46 in 73.2 innings. In his last three starts, he has given up 12 earned runs over 17.1 innings of work.
Offensively, the Nationals rank 20th in scoring, averaging 4.25 runs per game (4.84 on the road). Leading the offense is Lane Thomas, who is hitting .279/.332/.457 with nine home runs, 30 runs batted in, 42 runs scored.
This will be the first time that anyone on the Nationals has faced Astros’ starter Hunter Brown.
Astros Trying To Keep Pace In Division
At 37-29, the Astros have not gotten off to a horrible start, but they still sit in second in the AL West, five games back of the Texas Rangers. They will look to keep pace in division and take the opener at home, where they are 18-14 this year.
Rookie Hunter Brown currently has the third-best odds of winning the AL Rookie of the Year award at +600, and he will look to improve on those odds with a solid outing Tuesday. In 12 games, he is 5-3 with a 3.69 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and he has 79 strikeouts in 68.1 innings of work.
Unfortunately, the Astros will be without slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is on the injured list with an oblique strain. Without Alvarez, their best slugger has been Alex Bregman, who has nine home runs, 39 runs batted in, and 37 runs scored.
In the last week, Jose Abreu has started to come on after a dreadful start to the season. In his last 26 at bats, he is hitting .269 with two home runs and six runs batted in.
Against Patrick Corbin, both Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick have homered off the lefty.
Take The Astros To Win And Cover
Looking at the trends, the Nationals are just 1-6 in their last seven games and 2-5 in their last seven on the road. They are 4-1 in their last five interleague games.
For Houston, they are 1-5 in their last six games overall, but they are 10-3 in their last 13 home games. In their last nine games against NL East teams, the Astros are 7-2.
With players like Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley out, the Astros certainly are not at full strength. Still, on paper, they should have enough to take down the struggling Nationals, especially with Hunter Brown on the mound.
Take the Astros to win and cover the -1.5 runline (-134) in this one.
