The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals meet Monday in MLB action at Nationals Park. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Pirates vs Nationals prediction.
Pirates Betting Preview
The Pirates are coming off a 4-game sweep of the Marlins and are easily the surprise of the league through the first week. Many didn’t have high expectations for the Pirates, but they’re one of four unbeaten teams left in MLB. The Pirates’ offense has scored 6 or more runs in every game this season. Ke’Bryan Hayes leads the Pirates with 8 hits and 4 RBI, while Bryan Reynolds and Connor Joe have combined for 12 hits and 8 RBI. Marco Gonzales gets the ball for the Pirates, and he was 4-1 with a 5.22 ERA and 34 strikeouts last season. This will be Gonzales’ second career game against the Nationals.
Nationals Betting Preview
The Nationals make their home debut and are coming off a 1-2 series loss to the Reds. The Nationals pitching staff has allowed no less than 6 runs in every game this season. While it’s early, the Nationals pitching staff is raising major red flags, and it doesn’t help the naysayers who predicted Washington to finish dead last in the NL East this season. Jesse Walker leads the Nationals with 5 hits and 1 RBI, while Joey Meneses and Keibert Ruiz have combined for 9 hits and 4 RBI. MacKenzie Gore gets the ball for the Nationals, and he was 7-10 with a 4.42 ERA and 151 strikeouts last season. This will be Gore’s second career game against the Pirates.
Washington Nationals Team Facts
- The Nationals have lost each of their last four games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
- The Nationals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Nationals’ last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The Nationals have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against National League opponents.
- The Nationals have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last six home openers.
Pittsburgh Pirates Team Facts
- The Pirates have won each of their last four games as road underdogs.
- The Pirates have covered the run line in each of their last seven road games.
- The Pirates have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games against the Nationals.
- The Pirates have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last eight Monday day road games.
- The Pirates have led after 7 innings in each of their last six games against opponents that held a losing record.
Pirates vs Nationals prediction
Neither the Pirates nor the Nationals were expected to be good this season, so flip a coin, I guess. A pitching matchup of Gonzales and Gore doesn’t do much for me either. With that said, the Pirates are on fire offensively and probably a team you should back until things cool off. Yes, it was the Marlins, but the Nats aren’t much better. Also, the Marlins do have some quality pitchers, so there’s that. Yeah, I’m riding the hot hand with the Pirates until it runs cold, especially against subpar teams like Washington.