jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Washington/NYM over 5 even:
Shortly after the Nationals (64-66) all but conceded the chase for the NL East by trading Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs, Washington has failed to score over their last 27 innings, dropping their last 3 games in the process. The Nationals trail the Braves by 8.5 games and have dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions to the Mets (58-71) in their current 3 game series. Yesterday afternoon Ahmed Rosario and Todd Frazier each belted solo HR’s, Michael Conforto added an RBI single and Zack Wheeler won his 6th straight decision. Wheeler (9-6) hurled 7 shutout innings of 6 hit ball walking 3 and striking out 4 turning a disastrous first half into an ace like workhorse in the second half. Tanner Roark was the hard luck loser falling to 8-13 despite giving up just a run on 4 hits over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. The Nats will try to avoid getting swept and try to get their offense going this afternoon while the Mets look for their 7th win over their last 9 games.
The Mets send Steven Matz (5-10 4.55) to the hill who has dropped 5 of his last 6 decisions overall. During his last outing he picked up a no-decision in a 6-3 Mets win over San Francisco in which he allowed just 3 runs and 2 hits over 5 innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts. Matz faces a Nationals lineup hitting .250 overall averaging 4.5 runs per contest and 5th in the NL with 153 HR. Trea Turner (.268 15 52) has hit safely in 4 of his last 5 (.384) combining power with exceptional speed evident by his 33 steals in 41 attempts (80%). Anthony Rendon (.291 16 62) has a 5 game hitting streak (.263) and seems to be showing no ill effects from a recent wrist injury still leading the club in batting. Bryce Harper (.246 30 81) survived the trade and waiver wire deadlines but has gone hitless over his last 14 at-bats despite raising his batting average some 35 points over the last 2 months. Juan Soto (.291 15 45) has hit safely in 4 of his last 5 (.300) and at just 19 years old appears to be a huge part of Washington’s future. Michael Taylor (.233 6 27) is second on the Nats with 24 steals in 29 attempts (83%) but will look to break out of an 0 for 11 slump.
Washington counters with Jefry Rodriguez (1-1 5.46) who will be making his third start since being called up from AAA Syracuse. The 25 year old right handed rookie will be making his 6th start overall. He faces a Mets lineup batting just .236 overall averaging 4.2 runs per contest 10th in the NL with 136 HR. Conforto (.235 18 52) leads the Mets in power and production but is just 4 for his last 23 (.174) and is behind last season’s career highs due to a very slow start. Brandon Nimmo (.265 15 39) just began a rehab assignment with A St Lucie and hopes to return by the middle of next week. Wilmer Flores (.275 11 48) is 7 for 21 (.333) over his last 5 games and is overdue for some trademark walk-offs. Rosario (.244 7 41) has made the most of his opportunities blending into an everyday player and recently broke a 1 for 14 slump (.071) with 3 hits and 3 runs over his last 2 games. Todd Frazier (.234 15 47) has a 4 game hitting streak (.333) belting 3 HR over that stretch.
We get a bargain of a price this afternoon at CitiField, a venue which once opened some 9 years ago was considered a cathedral of NL ballparks, has become a lot more friendlier to the hitters since. Dimensions remain fairly challenging at 408 straight away and 395 to the power alleys, but the corners are average at 330 and the ball jumps off the bat a lot better in the daytime heat. Matz has not had a productive second half but that’s partly due to a lack of run support, and Rodriguez has certainly shown flashes of brilliance here and there. Still, we expected a lot more fireworks through the first 2 games of this series and will hopefully get the offenses going this afternoon as we look to continue a resurgent season winners of 19 of our last 27 after a rough 4-8 start.
I’ll have a second play later this afternoon.
Shortly after the Nationals (64-66) all but conceded the chase for the NL East by trading Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs, Washington has failed to score over their last 27 innings, dropping their last 3 games in the process. The Nationals trail the Braves by 8.5 games and have dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions to the Mets (58-71) in their current 3 game series. Yesterday afternoon Ahmed Rosario and Todd Frazier each belted solo HR’s, Michael Conforto added an RBI single and Zack Wheeler won his 6th straight decision. Wheeler (9-6) hurled 7 shutout innings of 6 hit ball walking 3 and striking out 4 turning a disastrous first half into an ace like workhorse in the second half. Tanner Roark was the hard luck loser falling to 8-13 despite giving up just a run on 4 hits over 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. The Nats will try to avoid getting swept and try to get their offense going this afternoon while the Mets look for their 7th win over their last 9 games.
The Mets send Steven Matz (5-10 4.55) to the hill who has dropped 5 of his last 6 decisions overall. During his last outing he picked up a no-decision in a 6-3 Mets win over San Francisco in which he allowed just 3 runs and 2 hits over 5 innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts. Matz faces a Nationals lineup hitting .250 overall averaging 4.5 runs per contest and 5th in the NL with 153 HR. Trea Turner (.268 15 52) has hit safely in 4 of his last 5 (.384) combining power with exceptional speed evident by his 33 steals in 41 attempts (80%). Anthony Rendon (.291 16 62) has a 5 game hitting streak (.263) and seems to be showing no ill effects from a recent wrist injury still leading the club in batting. Bryce Harper (.246 30 81) survived the trade and waiver wire deadlines but has gone hitless over his last 14 at-bats despite raising his batting average some 35 points over the last 2 months. Juan Soto (.291 15 45) has hit safely in 4 of his last 5 (.300) and at just 19 years old appears to be a huge part of Washington’s future. Michael Taylor (.233 6 27) is second on the Nats with 24 steals in 29 attempts (83%) but will look to break out of an 0 for 11 slump.
Washington counters with Jefry Rodriguez (1-1 5.46) who will be making his third start since being called up from AAA Syracuse. The 25 year old right handed rookie will be making his 6th start overall. He faces a Mets lineup batting just .236 overall averaging 4.2 runs per contest 10th in the NL with 136 HR. Conforto (.235 18 52) leads the Mets in power and production but is just 4 for his last 23 (.174) and is behind last season’s career highs due to a very slow start. Brandon Nimmo (.265 15 39) just began a rehab assignment with A St Lucie and hopes to return by the middle of next week. Wilmer Flores (.275 11 48) is 7 for 21 (.333) over his last 5 games and is overdue for some trademark walk-offs. Rosario (.244 7 41) has made the most of his opportunities blending into an everyday player and recently broke a 1 for 14 slump (.071) with 3 hits and 3 runs over his last 2 games. Todd Frazier (.234 15 47) has a 4 game hitting streak (.333) belting 3 HR over that stretch.
We get a bargain of a price this afternoon at CitiField, a venue which once opened some 9 years ago was considered a cathedral of NL ballparks, has become a lot more friendlier to the hitters since. Dimensions remain fairly challenging at 408 straight away and 395 to the power alleys, but the corners are average at 330 and the ball jumps off the bat a lot better in the daytime heat. Matz has not had a productive second half but that’s partly due to a lack of run support, and Rodriguez has certainly shown flashes of brilliance here and there. Still, we expected a lot more fireworks through the first 2 games of this series and will hopefully get the offenses going this afternoon as we look to continue a resurgent season winners of 19 of our last 27 after a rough 4-8 start.
I’ll have a second play later this afternoon.