Washington Nationals vs Philadelphia Phillies 4/8/19 MLB Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies commence a three-game set at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Monday.

Right hander Anibal Sanchez will get to start on top of the hill for the Nationals on Monday. The 35-year old from Venezuela has started just one game so far this season and has an ERA of 9.0, WHIP of 2.0 and BAA of .250.

Sanchez gave up a total of four runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts in just four innings pitched against the Phillies last April 2, 2019. The Nationals won the game 9-8 but Sanchez didn’t factor in the decision.

Anthony Rendon leads the Nationals with 11 total hits on a team-best .444 batting average and .516 OBP. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman has a total of seven RBIs for Washington while Rendon leads Washington with three homers on the season. Rendon also has six RBIs while left fielder Juan Soto has chipped in 5 RBIs for the Nationals.

It will be Vince Velasquez who will face Anibal Sanchez on the hill this Monday. This is the first start of the season for the  26 year old right hander, although he has pitched in relief in one game this season. The Montclair California native threw 14 pitches against the Washington Nationals last April 1st and struck out two batters without allowing a hit in one inning of relief.

Velasquez has a career 20-26 SU record and has a career ERA of 4.58, WHIP of 1.35 and BAA of 0.256. Velasquez was 9-12 in 30 starts for the Phillies last season. He had an ERA of 4.85 and a WHIP of 1.35 last season.

Bryce Harper has been as good as advertised for the Phillies. Harper is batting a team-best .417 on the season while also leading his team in home runs with 3 and OBP at .562. Rhys Heskins leads the Phillies with a total of 11 RBIs on the season and he is followed by Maikel Franco who has 10 RBIs. Shortstop Jean Segura leads the team with 11 hits.

Who Wins?

Washington is 3-4 SU in seven games played so far this season. The Nationals are 1-1 in two games away from home during that period. Philadelphia is 5-2 SU on the current season. The Phillies are 4-1 SU in five home games played so far this season. Head to head, the Nationals are 4-1 SU in their last five games against the Phillies. Washington is 1-4 SU as betting favorites and 2-0 as underdogs. On the other hand, the Phillies are 4-2 SU as betting favorites and 1-0 as dogs.

The Nationals are 3-4 SU heading to the final game of their current set with the New York Mets. Washington is 3-7 SU in their last 10 Monday games, 2-7 SU in their last 9 Game 1 of a series and 1-5 SU in their last six games after a win. Meanwhile, the Phillies have won four out of their last five games entering Sunday’s games. Philadelphia is also 6-1 SU in their last seven games against the National League East , 6-13 SU in their last 19 Game 1s of a series and 1-4 SU in Velasquez’s last five starts.

Anibal Sanchez hasn’t been the most reliable pitcher on the road as he is 13-19 when pitching away from some since 2015. Velasquez isn’t also as good as his 2018 ERA was 5.4 at home last season. The difference here though is that Philadelphia has an offense that can carry Velasquez and we can’t say the same otherwise. Sanchez struggled with this same offense four days ago, giving up four runs on four hits in four innings. I’ll take the home team at a very good price here. I’m picking the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Washington Nationals on 4/8/19.

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Other Bets To Make

The Nationals are 2-5 ATS in seven games played so far including 1-1 ATS in a pair of games away from their home field. The Phillies are 5-2 ATS in seven games played this season. Philadelphia has been a very good 4-1 ATS in five home games played so far .

These teams have played twice last week and the Phillies outscored the Nationals by an aggregate score of 16-11. All but one of Philadelphia’s six wins this season have come by at least two runs. I think their offense is better than Washington’s pitching staff. Prediction: Phillies -1.5

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The total has gone over in five out of seven games played by Washington this season. Similarly, the over is 5-2 in the seven games played by Philadelphia so far. The total has gone over in three out of five home games played by the Phillies so far.

The over is 4-0 in Velasquez’s last four starts and the total has also gone over in four out of the last five games played by Washington. Washington is averaging 5.75 runs per game while Philadelphia is putting up 6.62 runs per outing . Head to head, the over is 6-4 in the last 10 games between the Nationals and Phillies. These are two high scoring teams which should combine for double digit runs in this game. Prediction: Over 9

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