Cardinals vs. Nationals Odds & Free Pick 7/29/22

St. Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals
Date: Friday July 29th, 07:05 ET
Location: Nationals Park
TV: Bally Sports Midwest
Money Line: Cardinals -190 / Nationals +156
Total Line: 9.0

STARTING PITCHING

St. Louis: Miles Mikolas (7-8, 2.87)
Washington: Aníbal Sánchez (0-2, 6.3)

Cardinals Projected Lineup

Corey Dickerson LF
Lars Nootbaar RF
Brendan Donovan 3B
Nolan Gorman 2B
Andrew Knizner C
Tyler O’Neill LF
Albert Pujols 1B
Tommy Edman SS
Dylan Carlson CF
Miles Mikolas P

Nationals Projected Lineup

César Hernández 2B
Maikel Franco 3B
Yadiel Hernandez LF
Keibert Ruiz C
Juan Soto RF
Lane Thomas LF
Nelson Cruz CF
Luis Garcia SS
Josh Bell 1B
Aníbal Sánchez P

STRAIGHT UP/ OVER/UNDER / RUN LINE RECORDS

St. Louis Cardinals: 52-47-0 SU / OU 46-49-4 / Run Line W/L 53-46-0
Washington Nationals: 34-66-0 SU / OU 48-47-5 / Run Line W/L 42-58-0The Washington Nationals host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, July 29th at Nationals Park. The first pitch in this matchup is scheduled for 07:05 ET. The MLB Odds Board places St. Louis as the favorite (-190), with an OU line set at 9.0.

Recent Form

The St. Louis Cardinals will look to pick up another big win after they defeated the Blue Jays by a score of 6-1. On their way to the victory, the pitching staff gave up 1 run on 5 hits. The Cardinals benefited from an offense that generated 6 runs on 13 hits. St. Louis picked up the win, despite getting 215.0 on the moneyline. This matchup remained below the over-under line set at 8.0 runs. With this result, St. Louis’s over-under record dropped even further, moving to just 46-49-4.

After their 5 most recent games, the Cardinals have gone just 2-3. In this rough stretch of games, the team’s run differential comes in at -6. In their last 5 contests, St. Louis is averaging 4.6 runs per game, right in line with their season average of 4.59. So far, St. Louis has won over half of their 30 series played, going 13-9-8.

Washington will look to move on from a 6 run loss to the Dodgers, falling by the score of 7-1. In the game, the team’s pitching staff allowed a total of 11 hits, leading to 7 runs. At the plate, the Nationals only came through for 1 run on 5 hits. This loss came as no surprise, as Washington came into the game as the underdog, getting 220.0. In their 82 games as the underdog, their straight-up win percentage sits at 33.0%. Combined, the Nationals and Dodgers’ run total fell below the over-under line of 9.0 runs. Even still, Washington games have still gone over the betting total over half of the time, at 48-47-5.

Across their last 5 contests, the Nationals are above .500, going 3-2. Washington has managed to play above .500 baseball, despite their last 5-scoring margin sitting at -2. Washington has benefited from strong pitching, as their offense has slipped in their last 5 games, averaging just 3.8 runs per game. Their overall average sits at 3.84. Washington has a below .500 series record of just 8-21-2.

Pitching Matchup

St. Louis will roll with Miles Mikolas (7-8) as their starter. Through 20 appearances, Mikolas has an ERA of just 2.87 while averaging 6.25 innings per appearance. Hits have been hard to come by against the right-hander, as his batting average allowed is just 0.216. Mikolas is giving up home runs at a rate similar to the league average, allowing 1.01 per 9 innings. On the season, Miles Mikolas has had no problem racking up strikeouts, posting a strikeout percentage of 19.0%. This includes a per game average of 4.8 K’s per game. For the season, he has struggled with command averaging 1.8 walks per outing.

Aníbal Sánchez gets the start for the Nationals, with an overall record of 0-2. Sánchez gets the start with an ERA of 6.3. On average, he has lasted 5.0 innings per appearance. Opposing teams have hit the ball well against the right-hander, with a batting average of 0.278. Opposing batters have been able to drive the ball with power against Sánchez, averaging 2.7 homers per 9 innings pitched. In terms of strikeouts, Sánchez is averaging just 4.5 K’s per game. So far, he has struck out 22.0% of the batters he has faced. Leading into the game, he has shown a strong command of his pitches, averaging just 3.6 walks per contest.

St. Louis vs Washington History

Today’s matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals will be their first meeting of the season. Last year, Washington won the season series 4-2. The average scoring margin in these games was 4.83, with an over-under record of 2-4. Last year, the two teams combined to average 8.83 runs per game.

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Betting Trends

• Cardinals are 2-6 in their last 8 road games vs. a right-handed starter.
• Cardinals are 1-5 in their last 6 Friday games.
• Nationals are 4-1 in their last 5 games vs. a right-handed starter.
• Nationals are 7-2 in their last 9 vs. National League Central.

St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals Prediction

Heading into Friday’s National League matchup between St. Louis and Washington, the Cardinals are the heavy favorite to come away with the win. Even though the Nationals have been playing well of late, I see St. Louis picking up an easy win. Look for a bounce-back outing from Miles Mikolas, who struggled in his last appearance vs the Reds. I like the Cardinals to cover the runline.

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