The Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals meet Friday in MLB action from Nationals Park. The Phillies are coming off a pair of games versus the Blue Jays this week, splitting the quick series with one win. As for Washington, they just finished up against the Red Sox. The Nationals split the first pair, then in the Thursday rubber match Washington won by three. Check back all season long for free MLB pics at Sports Chat Place.

Philadelphia Phillies 

The Phillies played a two-game series in Toronto this week, losing the Tuesday matchup 2-1. In Wednesday’s game, Philadelphia pulled back even with a 9-4 victory. In that one, Philly posted 11 team hits. Three of those belonged to Bryce Harper, along with two solo home runs and three runs. Jake Cave added a homer, two RBI and two runs as well. 

As starting pitcher on Friday it’ll be Philadelphia’s Michael Lorenzen. Over his 20 starts so far Lorenzen is 7-7 with a 3.23 ERA and 93 Ks in 122.2 innings. Lorenzen is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 10 strikeouts over his last two starts. 

Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts

• The Phillies have won each of their last 11 night games at Nationals Park following a win.
• The Phillies have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games as favorites following a road win.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Phillies’ last six games as road favorites.

Philadelphia Phillies Player Prop Facts

• J.T. Realmuto has hit a home run in each of his last three appearances with the Phillies as road favorites against NL East opponents.
• Trea Turner has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Phillies’ last five night games against opponents that held a losing record.
• Trea Turner has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Phillies’ last six games against opponents that held a losing record.
• Alec Bohm has scored at least one run in seven of his last eight appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
• Michael Lorenzen has recorded four or more strikeouts in each of his last six appearances with his team as a favorite against NL opponents.
• Nick Castellanos has recorded at least one hit in each of the Phillies’ last 10 games against the Nationals.
• Kyle Schwarber ranks T6th in the league in Home Runs (30) this season.

Washington Nationals 

Over on the Nationals’ side, they lost to the Red Sox 5-4 on Tuesday but then came back for a 6-2 win in game two. In the Thursday rubber match, Washington took the series with a 10-7 victory after scoring five runs in the fifth inning. Joey Meneses went off for two hits, two runs and five RBI, while Stone Garrett had two hits, three RBI and a run. 

In the starter role for the Nationals on Friday it’ll be Joan Adon. In his four games (two starts) this year Adon is 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA and 14 Ks in 14.0 frames. Adon has a career ERA of 6.54, a 2-12 record and 78 Ks in 19 career games (17 starts). 

Washington Nationals Team Facts

• The Nationals have won eight of their last nine games as home underdogs after playing the previous day.
• The Nationals have failed to cover the run line in 11 of their last 12 home games against NL East opponents following a home win.
• The Nationals have led after 7 innings in eight of their last 11 games as home underdogs.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Nationals’ last six home games against National League opponents.
• The Nationals have led after 5 innings in eight of their last 11 games as home underdogs.

Washington Nationals Player Prop Facts

• Keibert Ruiz has hit a home run in three of the Nationals’ last four night games.
• Keibert Ruiz has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Nationals’ last four night games.
• Keibert Ruiz has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Nationals’ last seven games.
• Keibert Ruiz has scored at least one run in each of the Nationals’ last six games.
• Keibert Ruiz has recorded at least one hit in each of the Nationals’ last seven games.
• CJ Abrams ranks 5th in the league in Steals (33) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Washington Nationals ranks 30th in the league for home runs allowed this season (181).
• The Washington Nationals ranks 29th in the league for home runs this season (112).
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks 6th in the league for doubles this season (224).
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks T6th in the league for triples this season (21).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to try Philadelphia in this one. Lorenzen is doing quite well right now; he’s got just two earned runs (and a no-hitter) in his last two starts on six hits and five walks over 17.0 total innings. It’s been a little while since Lorenzen has been on the mound though (August 9) and he’s only got two August appearances so far but the numbers speak for themselves. Philadelphia’s offense is going to have to step up as well; the Phillies put up nine runs in their last game but had just two combined runs over the previous three. That said, Lorenzen should be able to keep things manageable on the scoreboard here.