The Washington Nationals and St. Louis, Cardinals, are set to play Saturday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cardinals and Nationals were rained out of Friday night’s game, with the Cardinals leading the game 1-0. St. Louis is 38-52, last place in the National League Central. Washington is 36-54 on the season, which is last place in their division, the NL East.
St. Louis is listed at -130 as favorites in this game on Saturday.
Nationals Looking for Third Straight
With the rain out on Friday, Washington is still looking for their third straight win. The Nationals won their final two games heading into the All Star Break. The Nationals hit the baseball fairly well, but have trouble scoring. Washington is 26th in runs scored, with 4.6 per game, while 5th with a .261 batting average.
Lane Thomas is having a great season for Washington. Thomas leads the team with a .302 batting average, and 14 homeruns. He also has 23 doubles on the season and drove in 49 runs. Washington’s Joey Meneses has just six homeruns, but had four in the final series before the break.
Jake Irvin will get the start for the Washington Nationals. Irvin is a 26-year-old right-hander from Minnesota in his rookie season. Irvin is 2-5 on the season, with a 4.60 earned run average. He is coming off an outing against Texas, where he allowed 5 hits and 2 runs over 5 innings.
Cardinals Send Lefty to the Mound
For the Cardinals, Steven Matz will get the start. The lefthander is 0-7 on the season, with a 4.65 earned run average. Matz was used out of the bullpen for most of June and July, but is back in the Cardinals rotation. Matz has 69 strikeouts in 71.2 innings, and has walked 25 batters on the season.
The Cardinals have been doing things right for the most part on offense, but the bullpen has been the issue. Offensively, the Cardinals are scoring 4.6 runs per game, and picking up nearly 9 hits per game. The team batting average is 13th in the league, and they have the 7th most homeruns.
But, pitching – the Cardinals have the 25th best team ERA at .456, and opponents are hitting .2754 against them. The Cardinals are allowing 9.4 hits per game, and they’ve allowed the most home runs in baseball, with 87.
Cardinals Win Night Game of Doubleheader
Keep in mind – anytime a doubleheader takes place, things could get thrown off. Be sure to check out the latest betting line when you start to make your picks for Saturday. For now, ee will go with Steven Matz winning his first game of the season. Both teams have been pretty bad this season, but the Cardinals have a better overall team, and have more on the line. Look for St. Louis to hit the baseball, and Matz to do enough to win here. Betting the St. Louis Cardinals over the Washington Nationals here is the way to go. Take St. Louis -130.
