St. Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals Game 3 MLB NLCS Betting Odds and Pick

The St. Louis Cardinals hope to get on board in the 2019 NLCS when they visit the Nationals Park and take on the Washington Nationals on 10/14/19.

Looking For First Win

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking for their first win in the 2019 NLCS. St. Louis fell 1-3 in Game 2 and now need a win to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination. Jack Flaherty will have the difficult task of ending this two-game skid to the Nationals. Flaherty was 11-8 with an ERA of 2.78 during the season and he allowed just one earned a run in six innings against the Braves in his last outing. However, Flaherty didn’t have a start against the Nationals in 2019 but he was 7-3 with an ERA of 2.37 on the road this season.

Marcell Ozuna is one of the Cardinals’ players who has found success against Stephen Strasburg. Ozuna is 14-44 (.318) with four home runs and 9 RBIs against the right-hander. However, Ozuna is only 0-8 in this series. Paul Goldschmidt has three RBIs in 23 at-bats against Strasburg so he’s another player to watch in Game 3.

Taking Command of The Series

The Washington Nationals took command of the 2019 National League Championship Series with a 3-1 win on Saturday. Max Scherzer started for Washington and he pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 11 batters. The Nationals are more confident than ever with Stephen Strasburg pitching Game 3 and Patrick Corbin in Game 4. Strasburg went 1-0 against St. Louis in 2019 with an ERA of 2.31. However, the right-hander struggled in his last start, giving up 3 earned runs in six innings against the Dodgers.

Anthony Rendon heads to Game 3 with a six-game hitting streak. Rendon is hitting .346 in the playoffs with five RBIs. He is 2- with three walks in the NLCS. Adam Eaton had 2 RBIs in Game 2 while Michael Taylor had two big hits on Saturday. Taylor has six hits in his last five games played and he has 3 RBIs in eight playoff games.

Who Wins?

St. Louis is 4-8 SU in their last 12 games played. The Cardinals are 8-3 SU in their last 11 games played on the road. Washington is 14-2 SU in their last 16 games played. The Nationals are 11-1 SU in their last 12 games played at home. Head to head, the Nationals are 1-5 SU in their last six home games against the Cardinals.

The Cardinals have taken a 2-0 series lead and they head home as the slight MLB betting favorites to go up 3-0 in the series. The St. Louis offense has yet to make its mark in this series and with the NLCS transferring to Washington and the Nationals going with Stephen Strasburg as their starter, the Cardinals are in a lot of trouble here. Strasburg has an ERA of 2.40 with 21 strikeouts in 15 playoff innings.

The St. Louis batting order is struggling for hits in the postseason. At the top of the order, Dexter Fowler only has two hits in a total of eight games played in the playoffs. On the other side, the Nationals have a loaded lineup that is deep from top to bottom. Although they have not scored a lot of runs in this series, they have picked up 17 hits in two games. Now that they are at home, the runs should come more easily.

The Nationals are 4-1 SU in Strasburg’s last five home starts against the Cardinals and 4-0 SU in their last four playoff games. Washington is also 7-0 SU in their last seven home games against a right-handed starter. The Cardinals are winless in their last five NLCS games played and just 2-7 SU in their last nine playoff games on the road. I’m picking the Washington Nationals to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Prediction: Washington Nationals

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Over/Under Bet

The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by St. Louis. The under is also 4-2 in their last six games against the National League and also 4-2 in their last six games against the National League East Division. The total has gone under in six out of the last eight games played by the Nationals. The under is 6-2 in Washington’s last eight games against the National League and the under is also 5-1 in their last six games against the National League Central Division. Head to head, the under is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.

Aside from the betting trends pointing to the under, I can’t find a reason to bet on the over. These teams played to a 2-0 game on Friday night and then they combined for only four runs on Saturday in a 3-1 win by the Nationals. St. Louis has managed only four hits in the first two games of this series and with Strasburg on the mound, the Cardinals are going to be in trouble. Strasburg has a career 2.0 ERA against St. Louis and the under is also 4-0 in his last five home starts against the Cardinals. Don’t forget also that St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty has surrendered only four runs in 13 playoff innings this season. The under is 7-0-1 in their last eight meetings. This one should be no different. Prediction: Under 7

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