Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Washington Nationals Predictions, Picks and MLB Preview – July 17, 2016

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Washington Nationals Betting Preview

Where: Nationals Park

When: Sunday, July 17, 2016, 1:35 PM ET

Line: Pittsburgh Pirates (+205) at Washington Nationals (-245); total: 8.0 – view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: MASN, RTPT

Writer’s Pick: Washington Nationals (-245)

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Pitching Edge – Washington Nationals (-245)

Having Max Scherzer (10-6, 3.03 ERA) on the mound is a more-than-enough explanation as to why the Nats are primed to win tonight’s series finale against the Pirates. The former AL Cy Young Award winner closed out the first half of the season on a high note, yielding just two runs in his last three starts. That stretch includes a shutout performance during a 4-2 victory over the Mets on June 29.

Morevoer, Scherzer, who currently leads the majors in strikeouts (164), is in line for another major output against the Bucs. He is 4-2 with a quality 3.09 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and .198 opponents’ batting averages across nine career games (eight starts) in this matchup.

Washington, however, is just 2-3 SU in Scherzer’s previous five starts at home.

Batting Edge – Pittsburgh Pirates (+205)

The Pirates’ offense is still pretty hard to deal with even if your name is Max Scherzer. The Bucs, after all, have a number of deadly options to rely on at the plate. For one, there’s the pair of Starling Marte and David Freese, who both have been consistently delivering the goods for their squad.

Marte, the team’s best batter (.313) and hits-leader (100), owns a .324 batting average on the road this season, and just had his eight-game hitting streak snapped in yesterday’s 6-0 loss to the Nats. Freese, meanwhile, is batting .290 on the road and is 1-for-3 lifetime off the Washington ace.

Besides Marte and Freese, the Bucs can still look to Andrew McCutchen for some timely runs. He’s gone 9-for-20 with two homers and six RBIs in his last five games. He also owns a career triple-slash line of .346/.412/.686 versus the Nats.

Pittsburgh, which is priced at +1,800 to win the National League title, is 7-3 SU in its past 10 road games.

Writer’s Prediction: Washington (-245) wins it, 5-1, and completes the three-game sweep.

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