The Washington Nationals take on the Oakland Athletics. Our MLB odds series has our Nationals Athletics prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Nationals Athletics.
The Washington Nationals begin a weekend series against the Oakland Athletics. It's a matchup of two of the worst teams in baseball. However, if you have watched these teams this week alone — not in the first week of the season — you wouldn't know they are bad teams. The Nats won on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies and then went into San Francisco and took two of three from the Giants with some impressive relief pitching and timely late-game offense. The A's just took two of three on the road from the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. Not only did the A's win the series, they one-hit the Rangers in a 1-0 shutout win on Thursday, with J.P. Sears dominating as the starter. Imagine thinking that the A's would win a series from the Rangers this year and would do so in a 1-0 game. Baseball is always creating surprises. Sometimes, the surprises last a whole season, but they often exist just on one day, which is why baseball betting is such an interesting yet fragile experience. A lot of bettors surely got taken to the cleaners with that 1-0 Rangers loss. They not only bet on the Rangers minus-1.5 runs, but they very likely took the over, given that Sears was hardly imposing in his previous starts to open the season.
Here are the Nationals-Athletics MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Nationals-Athletics Odds
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-172)
Oakland Athletics: -1.5 (+142)
Over: 8 (-110)
Under: 8 (-110)
How To Watch Nationals vs Athletics
TV: MASN (Nationals) / NBC Sports California (Athletics) / MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT
*Watch Nationals-Athletics LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread
The Nationals have looked solid this week. They stumbled out of the gate and blew late leads against the Cincinnati Reds, but they seemed to find their footing in recent days in San Francisco. The bullpen improved and stabilized. The Nats responded well to in-game adversity. They led the Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night and watched the Giants tie the game at 3-3. The Nats often wobble and fade away when they get punched in the mouth by an opponent, but in that game a few days ago, the Nationals stood their ground, quieted San Francisco's bats in the latter innings, and won late by a 5-3 score. The Giants loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Matt Chapman hit a routine double-play grounder to end the game. The Washington pen slammed the door shut and scored the kind of win which builds confidence in a dugout in April. Because the Nats just played in San Francisco, they will be rested for this game. Their commute is a brief bus ride across town to Oakland. The A's, on the other hand, played on Thursday and had to fly back from Arlington. It's an Oakland home game, but Washington is the team which hasn't had to travel a long distance for this game. That could matter.
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The A's really showed something in Texas against the Rangers. Their pitching was really strong, allowing more than three runs in only one of the three games against the defending champions. Oakland wouldn't be called a good team overall, but the A's definitely look better than they did last season. Against the Nats, they match up well and should be able to scratch out a win.
Final Nationals-Athletics Prediction & Pick
Games between two bad teams are exactly the kinds of games you should avoid betting on. Untrustworthy teams don't deserve to be entrusted with your dollars.
Final Nationals-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Nationals +1.5
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