The Washington Nationals (51-43) have no reason to relax atop the National League East division, as they’re only holding a slim three-game lead ahead of the New York Mets. The Pittsburgh Pirates (55-40), meanwhile, will have to start winning in bunches if they are to catch up on the streaking St. Louis Cardinals, who are running away with the division title at this point of the season.
Read on for a detailed preview of this game. You can also click here for an overview of tonight’s matchup between the Astros and the Royals.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Preview
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
When: Friday, July 24, 2015, 7:05 PMET
Line: Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Washington Nationals
The offense hasn’t been doing great for the Nationals this month. With the ever-dependable Max Scherzer on the mound later tonight, Washington’s hitters will have to show signs of life or risk putting to waste another gem from the ace—exactly the case the last time Mad Max took the hill.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Against the Dodgers on Sunday, Scherzer (10-8, 2.09 ERA) pitched for six innings and limited LA to just one run on seven hits. It all went for naught, though, as Washington’s offense and a shaky bullpen conspired to hand the Nats a 5-0 loss. Across four starts this July, Scherzer has collected a 1-3 record despite a decent 3.25 ERA and an even more solid 2.66 FIP during that stretch. Obviously, the key for the Nats is to cough up some better run support for Scherzer, who is getting a measly 1.30 RS/9 this month.
Hopefully for Scherzer, Ian Desmond will continue his solid hitting. Desmond, who entered the three-game set against the Mets with a Mendoza-line threatening .204 batting average, went 5-for-9 (.555) with a homer and two RBIs in the Mets series.
The sight of a lefty Jeff Locke later tonight may also be good news for Washington’s offense, as the Nats are 7-3 in their last 10 games against southpaw starters.
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Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates
Locke sure knows how Scherzer is feeling about experiencing a lack of run support. After all, the Pirates have scored no more than a run in each of his last four starts, dating back to June.
That stretch includes Locke’s outing on Sunday, when he pitched for seven-plus frames and gave up three runs on eight hits in a 6-1 defeat to the Brewers. To demonstrate how unfortunate Locke has been of late, consider that he’s just 1-2 in three starts this month despite a superb 1.77 ERA. That’s largely caused, however, by the Bucs’ pathetic offense that mustered just 0.89 RS/9 (second lowest among qualified NL starters) in Locke’s starts this July.
With all that said, the Bucs’ offense should be able to stop wasting Locke’s brilliance by providing him the run cushion he needs. Andrew McCutchen, who is batting .261 over his last six games, is pressured to start hitting like an MVP again. He went 2-for-4 with a homer, though, in Pittsburgh’s 7-3 win in the series opener. So far this season, McCutchen is tops in the team in batting average (.293), on-base percentage (.389), slugging (.496), and RBIs (59).
Writer’s Prediction
Washington wins, 5-2.
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