Stephen Strasburg delivered a dominant seven innings for the Washington Nationals in Game 3, striking out a dozen Cardinals. Howie Kendrick pounded three doubles, driving in three runs, and the Nationals moved within a game of the World Series with an 8-1 shellacking of St. Louis on Monday night. The Nationals’ starters have been outstanding in this series, as Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer took no-hitters well into the game in Games 1 and 2. St. Louis has scored two runs on 11 hits through the first three games. The three starting pitchers for the Nats have posted a perfect 0.00 ERA in this series. Can the Cardinals find their bats in Game 4? Or will Washington follow up their first NLDS win with their first NLCS sweep? We have your NLCS preview right here.
Cardinals vs Nationals 2019 NLCS Game 4 Odds & Expert Pick
When: Tuesday, October 15, 2019, 8:05 pm ET
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
TV: TBS
Radio: ESPN Radio
Live Stream: ESPN+MLB Odds: Washington -155 / O/U 7.5Projected Pitching Matchup: Dakota Hudson (0-0, 1.93 ERA) (STL) vs Patrick Corbin (0-2, 7.56 ERA) (WAS)
Why should you bet on the Cardinals?
After burning through ace Jack Flaherty in their Game 2 loss, the Cardinals now turn to Dakota Hudson to start Game 3. He threw 4 ⅔ innings against Atlanta on October 7, permitting four runs (although just one was earned) on five hits, striking out two and walking two, permitting a home run. He did pitch well down the stretch in September, posting a 2-1 record and a 2.33 ERA in five starts, including five innings of shutout ball on September 27 at home against the Chicago Cubs, striking out ten but walking five. If Hudson is to put together a win for the Cardinals, he will need to have better control without finding too much of the white part of the plate.
The Cardinals made a philosophy down the stretch of treating every game like it was Game 7 of a postseason series, and that approach helped them pass the Chicago Cubs and take the National League Central title. Now that they are in the NLCS, though, their issues on offense are emerging once again, as they have not found a way to keep up with the Washington bats. If you like St. Louis, you see those bats returning to keep the team from falling in an extremely deep 3-0 hole.
Why should you put your money on the Nationals?
Patrick Corbin posted a 14-7 record with a 3.25 ERA in the regular season, permitting an opponent batting average of .227. That batting average has gone down in the postseason to .212, but he has been walking too many men in the playoffs (seven free passes in 8 ⅓ combined innings over two starts), and those walks are coming around to score. He got shelled in two outings by the Dodgers, permitting eight runs (seven earned) in 6 ⅔ combined innings, but he did come on in relief against the Dodgers in that Game 5 win to throw 1 ⅓ innings of hitless shutout ball, striking out three, and he threw ⅓ of an inning in Game 2 against the Cardinals, retiring the only batter he faced on a ground ball. So it looks like his stuff is coming back around.
The Nationals have also gotten timely hitting dating back to Game 5 of the NLDS, as they dealt Clayton Kershaw a pair of back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning and then belted a grand slam in the top of the tenth, and they have not looked back since. If you like the Nationals, you see that hitting continuing against a very vulnerable Hudson, and you see Corbin’s stuff getting back to regular season form.
Final Score Prediction
It was exciting to see St. Louis storm past the Cubs and Brewers to take the division title, but seeing Stephen Strasburg finally pitch in the postseason like the Washington faithful knew that he could has been even more of a thrill. While the Cardinals should score some runs against Corbin, I see the Washington bats delivering the sweep in a 5-3 victory.
