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On a four-game losing streak, the Milwaukee Brewers look to rebound against the Washington Nationals. It is now time to continue our MLB odds series with a Brewers-Nationals prediction, pick, and how-to watch.
The Nationals took the early lead against Corbin Burnes and the Brewers. Joey Meneses hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second to give the Nationals the lead. William Contreras tied the game off Jake Irvin with a double that scored Christian Yelich in the top of the third. Then, the Nationals took it back in the fifth on a Lane Thomas single. The Brewers would tie it again in the sixth and take the lead on a Joey Wiemer solo home run in the seventh. It would not hold though, as Thomas and Meneses both drove in runs in the bottom of the inning as the Nationals would hold on to take a 5-3 win.
Both teams were busy off the field yesterday as well. While the Brewers are tied for the last wild card spot, and just 1.5 games back in the division, they made a trade for Mark Canha from the Mets. Meanwhile, Jeimer Candelario was traded from the Nationals to the Cubs yesterday, as the Nationals start their rebuild.
Here are the Brewers-Nationals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Brewers-Nationals Odds
Milwaukee Brewers: -1.5 (+105)
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-126)
Over: 8.5 (-115)
Under: 8.5 (-105)
How To Watch Brewers vs. Nationals
TV: BSWI/MASN2
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 7:05 PM ET/ 4:05 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Brewers Could Cover The Spread
Article Continues Below
The Brewers have now lost four straight games, and the pitching has struggled. They have given up 34 runs in their last four games. On the season the pitching ranks 13th in team ERA while sitting sixth in opponent batting average and seventh in WHIP. Taking the mound today for the Brewers will be Freddy Peralta. Peralta is 6-8 on the season with a 4.46 ERA. Last time out he was great, as he struck out 13 batters and went six innings without giving up a run to take the win. Still, in his last four starts against teams not named the Reds, he is 0-2 and has given up three or more runs in each.
The Brewers just added Mark Canha, which should help an offense tied for 24th in runs scored, while sitting 27th in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage, and 28th in slugging. Canha comes into the game hitting fairly well. In July he hit .264 with a home run, a triple, and a double. He drove in five runs as well while having a .375 on-base percentage for the month. Fellow newcomer Carlos Santana went 1-4 yesterday. He is currently 2-11 at the plate with the Brewers with a home run, an RBI, a run scored, and two walks.
William Contreras added another RBI yesterday and has been hot as of late. In his last three games, Contreas has three doubles, a home run, six hits, and six RBIs. In July, Contreras hit .365 with three home runs and 18 RBIS. He has also hit ten doubles and scored 11 times. Christian Yelich scored one of the runs last night, his third in two games. In July, Yelich scored t20 times while driving in 22 runs. He did this with the help of seven home runs and eight doubles. Meanwhile, he hit .333, with an OBP of .389, and stole four bases.
Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread
The National's offense played well last night, and while they traded Jeimer Candelario, who was the team leader in home runs, their two other major trade targets performed. For the season, the Nationals are tied for 20th in the majors in runs scored, sixth in batting average, 16th in on-base percentage, and 20th in slugging. If Lane Thomas played his last game as a National, he had a solid one. Thomas drove in two runs and scored another in the win. He leads the team in batting average and is second in RBIs in the year. He is hitting .287 on the year which is good for 18th in the majors. In July, he hit .245 with 14 RBIS and 14 runs scored. He did this with five stolen bases, five doubles, and two home runs.
Meanwhile, Joey Meneses leads the team in RBIs with 58. He hit a home run and drove in three runs in his game with the Brewers, and that capped a solid July. On the month, Meneses drove in 19 runs with the help of six home runs and five doubles. He also scored 13 times while hitting .283. Meneses was patient at the plate too, drawing seven walks and having an OBP of .330. He may have the hottest bat on the team as well. In the last week, he has hit .400 with two home runs and eight RBIs, while also scoring five times.
Josiah Gray will be taking the mound for the Nationals today. He has been solid this year, going 7-8 with a 3.27 ERA. His last two starts have also been good. In his last two starts, Gray has pitched 13 innings, while giving up just six hits and just one run. In July, he has a 3.13 ERA but was just 1-2 as the Nationals struggled to score runs, and the bullpen struggled to hold onto leads.
Final Brewers-Nationals Prediction & Pick
Both Josiah Gray and Freddy Peralta are coming into this area off of good starts. Still, Josiah Gray has been having a better season overall. He has been a pitch-to-contact type pitcher this year, and it is working as he is drawing a lot of weak contact and that keeps his pitch count low. The major thing here is both offenses have struggled. The Brewers blew the lead yesterday and struggled to score against a bad pitcher. Meanwhile, the Nationals were led by just two guys driving in runs, both of which could be gone by game time. While it would be fair to pick the Brewers to win, a close game and lower-scoring game suggest taking the runs with the Nationals. Further, the best play in this game is on the under.
Final Brewers-Nationals Prediction & Pick: Nationals +1.5 (-126) and Under 8.5 (-105)
