Overview
The Washington Nationals are at Safeco Field in Seattle today to finish up their three game series with the Mariners. The Nationals won the first two games of the series outscoring Seattle 11-4 in the process. Seattle hasn’t had much luck versus the Nationals over the past decade losing the last 11 meetings.
Heads to head trends
Nationals are 11-0 in the last 11 meetings.
Under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Seattle.
Seattle Mariners (-146)
The Seattle Mariners are 3rd in the American League West 9.5 games back of the 1st place LA Angels. The Mariners have been playing some solid baseball over the past month winning 18 of 26 games but they have since cooled off losing 4 of their last 5 games. If you look at the Mariners season you’ll notice the same pattern where they are red hot for a few weeks then go ice cold for a week or two so we’ll see if that trend continues today. The Mariners are 10 games over .500 overall but are actually 1 game under .500 at home this season. The Mariners pitching staff is about the same at home as they are on the road but their bats average almost a full runs less per game at home then they do on the road. On the hill for the Mariners today is Hisashi Iwakuma who is 12-6 with a 2.83 ERA on the season.
Seattle Mariners Trends
Mariners are 1-4 in their last 5 overall.
Mariners are 1-6 in Iwakumas last 7 starts as a favorite of -110 to -150.
Washington Nationals (+136)
The Washington Nationals are 1st in the National League East 7 games clear of the second place Atlanta Braves. The Nationals had a mediocre start to the season going 25-25 over their first 50 games but since May 30th the Nationals have played some very good consistent baseball winning going 52-32 propelling them into first place in the NL East. The Nationals play good on both sides of the ball averaging 4.28 runs per game on offense and allowing just 3.48 runs per game on defense. Starting for the Nationals today is Tanner Roark who is 12-8 with a 2.81 ERA on the season.
Washington Nationals Trends
Nationals are 7-2 in Roarks last 9 starts.
Nationals are 14-4 in their last 18 overall.
Conclusion
I like the Washington Nationals in this one today. This is basically just a straight value play as both teams have similar records, both starting pitchers are similar so I would say this is a 50/50 game but we’re getting the Nationals as a +136 underdog which makes this a very good value bet.
Free Pick: Washington Nationals +136
