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The St. Louis Cardinals are going for a sweep over the Washington Nationals Wednesday night. This game will continue our MLB odds series with a Cardinals-Nationals prediction and pick. We will also let you know how to watch the game.
The Cardinals have outscored the Nationals 17-9 in the two games played this series. Paul Goldschmidt, Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras have four hits each. Donovan and Goldschmidt have home runs, as well. Paul DeJong added a home run of his own and Dylan Carlson has two home runs, both coming on Tuesday night. As a team, the Cardinals are batting .329 in this series against Washington. On the mound, seven of the nine runs given up have come from the starting pitchers. However, the starters also have 11 of the 13 strikeouts.
The Nationals have not been striking out this series and have been making some good contact. As a team, the Nationals are batting .284 in the two games. Victor Robles, C.J Abrams, and Lane Thomas have three hits each and they have combined for four of the six doubles hit by Washington. The Nationals have not done much right on the mound during this series. They have an ERA over 8.00 and a WHIP of 1.83. Their starters have allowed 11 runs in 11 innings and their bullpen has allowed six runs in seven innings. They do have 18 strikeouts, but they will need to find ways to keep St. Louis off base if they want to keep game three close and avoid the sweep.
Miles Mikolas will start for St. Louis and Trevor Williams will get the ball for Washington.
Here are the Cardinals-Nationals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cardinals-Nationals Odds
St. Louis Cardinals: -1.5 (+104)
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-125)
Over: 9 (-105)
Under: 9 (-115)
How To Watch Cardinals vs. Nationals
TV: Bally Sports Midwest, MASN
Stream: MLB TV Subscription
Time: 4:05 PM ET/1:05 PM PT
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Why The Cardinals Could Cover The Spread
Trevor Williams is not having the best season, but it certainly is not the worst. He has a WHIP of 1.41, which is one of the worst in the MLB. He has also allowed 14 home runs, which is tied for 11th most in the MLB. Williams allows some loud contact and the Cardinals have been making that kind of contact in this series. Williams ranks extremely poorly in xBA, xSLG, barrel percentage, whiff percentage and xERA. The Cardinals should have no problem getting to Williams in this game.
St. Louis is second in the MLB in hard hit percentage and second in average exit velocity. Despite their struggles as a team, the Cardinals have been able to make some hard contact. Williams throws a lot of fastballs over the plate, so the Cardinals should not have much problem making solid contact in this game. With the matchup they are facing, do not be surprised if the Cardinals complete the sweep easily.
Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread
Mikolas had a good month of may, but June has not been as nice to him. He has allowed 13 runs on 25 hits in 17 innings pitched while striking out just five batters. On the season, Mikolas has allowed 100 hits in 86 2/3 innings to go along with just 63 strikeouts. He is not going to strike a lot of batters out and tends to make some mistakes over the plate. His 100 hits allowed is the second most given up in the MLB this season and his 1.36 WHIP is 13th worst in the MLB among qualified pitchers. The Nationals will need to take advantage of the mistakes Mikolas will make in this game. They are one of the better offensive teams when it comes to batting average, so this should not be a problem for them.
The Nationals have the least amount of strikeouts in the MLB, so they do make a lot of contact. The key in this game will be for them to make solid contact. They have the second best xBA in the MLB, so they do have the ability to stack some hits together. However, they struggle when it comes to hitting for power and extra bases. If the Nationals can find a way to hit the ball into the gaps and grab some extra base hits, they will cover this spread.
Final Cardinals-Nationals Prediction & Pick
The Cardinals have won the first two games of this series and covered a -1.5 spread. This game should be no different. Mikolas has been pretty hittable this season, but the Nationals do not hit for power, so runs are hard to come by. The Cardinals are swinging it well and have a good matchup. Expect St. Louis to win this game and cover the spread. I also like the over.
Final Cardinals-Nationals Prediction & Pick: Cardinals -1.5 (+104), Over 9 (-105)
