Monday night features a National League battle of East versus West as the Washington Nationals (14-20) take on the San Francisco Giants (15-18). The Giants will host this one at Oracle Park, with first pitch scheduled for 9:45 pm ET.
This is the first of a three-game series between these two struggling teams.
The Giants open as heavy favorites in this one. They are -222 to win, while the Nationals’ moneyline sits at +170. The runline features Washington +1.5 (-130), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Nationals Trying To Stay Competitive In Tough Division
At 14-20, the Washington Nationals sit dead last in the NL East, 9.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves. While they have the worst odds to win their loaded division at +25000, they would still like to show signs of progress as an organization.
In their last series against the Diamondbacks, they showed a bit of grit as they won the finale 9-8. After being down 7-3 after six innings, they scored six runs in the last three innings to pull ahead for the victory.
Jose Meneses had the biggest day Sunday, going three for five with a home run, four runs batted in, and two runs scored.
Overall, Jeimer Candelario has been one of the biggest producers with the bat. In 127 at bats, he is hitting .228/.275/.378 with four home runs, 14 runs batted in, and 12 runs scored.
On the mound for this series opener will be 26-year-old righty, Jake Irvin. In his lone game of the season, he allowed one earned run over 4.1 innings in a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs.
Giants Try To Stay Hot
Despite losing the last game of the series against the Brewers on Sunday, the San Francisco Giants have been pretty hot as of late. They have won four of their last five and back-to-back series over the Astros and Brewers. They will look to keep it going as they host the Nationals to start the week.
Veteran righty Anthony DeSclafani will get the nod for this game. In six games, he has been outstanding as he is 3-1 with a 2.13 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and he has 30 strikeouts in 38 innings. He picked up the win in his last start versus the Astros, pitching eight scoreless innings and allowed just three hits.
J.D. Davis has been one of the Giants’ best hitters thus far. He is hitting .286/.355/.520 with a team-leading seven home runs and 19 runs batted in.
Thairo Estrada has also hit well, hitting .346/.399/.543 with six home runs, 14 runs batted in, and a team-leading 23 runs scored.
As a team, the Giants rank 12th in the majors, averaging 4.53 runs per game (3.88 at home).
Take The Giants To Win And Cover At Home
Despite putting up nine runs on Sunday, the Washington Nationals have one of the most anemic offenses in baseball. They rank just 27th in scoring, averaging 3.73 runs per game.
On top of the Nationals’ struggles, Anthony DeSclafani has had an incredible start to the season and showed how dominant he can be in his last start against the Astros.
Currently 9-8 at home, expect the Giants to take advantage of their home-field advantage over Washington. Take San Francisco to win this one and to cover the -1.5 runline (-108).
