Nationals vs. Brewers Pick
The Washington Nationals will try to rebound at the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday night. First pitch is at 7:05PM EST.
Oddsmakers at sports book Bovada.lv have made the Nationals a -175 favorite on the moneyline. The Brewers are a +150 underdog, while the over-under is 8.5.
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On the mound for the Nationals is NL Cy Young Award candidate Max Scherzer (13-5, 2.21 ERA), while the Brewers will give the ball to rookie Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 1.62). Scherzer has a 0.85 WHIP with 230 strikeouts in 167 1/3 innings. He returned from the first DL stint of his career on August 28 as he allowed one earned run on five hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks in an 11-2 home win over the Brewers. Washington has won his last three starts and eight of the last 10. Woodruff has made three starts for Milwaukee, posting a 1.38 WHIP with 12 strikeouts over 16 2/3 innings. He allowed one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 4 2/3 innings on August 19 in a 6-3 win at Colorado.
The Nationals are 81-53 on the season and 41-26 on the road, while the Brewers come in at 71-64 and 38-31 at home. Milwaukee leads the season series 3-2 after winning the last two days. The over-under is 2-2-1.
On Friday night, Milwaukee won 1-0 as Jimmy Nelson allowed three hits and struck out 11 over seven innings of work. Neil Walker provided the offense with a solo home run in the first inning, while Jonathan Villar was 2-for-3 with a double. Tanner Roark was the hard-luck loser, giving up one earned run on five hits with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Howie Kendrick had a hit and stole a base.
Scherzer should be able to dominate a Brewers lineup that was mostly stymied by Roark a day earlier. And now that there is a scouting report on Woodruff, expect his luck to go down and his numbers to severely regress. Take the Nationals here.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: WASHINGTON NATIONALS -175