The Washington Nationals have inched their way back into the NL East pennant race by way of logging wins at online sportsbooks in 13 of their last 16 played games. In doing so, Dave Martinez’s troops only sat 3-games in back of the division leading Mets going into Wednesday’s rubber match with the Tampa Bay Rays. The reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers just trimmed their deficit in the NL West by taking a pair from the front-running San Francisco Giants. It looks to only be a matter of time until Dave Roberts’ squad finds itself back in the catbird seat once again. This series marks the first of four straight for the Nats that will be played against NL West opposition. Unfortunately, the Arizona Diamondbacks aren’t in the mix. That means this will be the true litmus test which will afford MLB bettors the opportunity to see if they’re for real or simply just in the midst of a positive regressed hot streak.
First pitch for the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals is scheduled for Saturday, July 3, 2021, at 7:15 p.m. ET from Nationals Park. The matchup will air live on FOX. Bet on MLB odds and player props at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
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Odds Analysis
The month of June was much better for Dodgers supporters than the previous month with LA coming out victorious in 17 of its 26 played games. The team has still cost MLB bettors upwards of $450 regardless of the fact that it entered this series 17 games over the .500 mark. Being installed favorites to win all but two games to this point is the only reason why. The Dodgers open this series owners of a 21-18 record when playing away from Tinseltown -$520. In taking the opener against the Rays on Tuesday night, the Nationals find themselves above .500 for the first time in months. It’s now split or won each of its last six played series. Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over Tampa Bay moved the club to 23-18 $37 when playing in the comforts of its own ballpark.
Probable Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw: The veteran was nothing short of locked in last time out when he hurled eight innings of 1 ER ball at the Chicago Cubs. For good measure, Kershaw took care of his prop and fantasy supporters in a big way by logging a season-high 13 strikeouts. The win improved his overall record to 9-7 and ERA to 3.25. Los Angeles has come out on the right side of the scoreboard in 10 of his 17 made starts, but he’s split his eight road starts and pitched to a 3.86 ERA and .228 batting average against. He’ll now oppose a Washington offense ranked No. 7 in the league against left-handed pitching. He picked up a win against the Nationals back on April 11 by tossing six innings of shut ball with 6 K, but that was well before Washington caught fire.
Paolo Espino: With Eric Fedde recently put on the IL and Stephen Strasburg on it again for the second time this season, the Nats will offer Espino up another start after he shined in his most recent opportunity against the Mets. Though he only managed to go five innings, the right-hander made them count by only allowing five hits and no runs while logging a solid 5:0 K/BB ratio. That said, his stuff was far from electric. His fastball clocked in below 90 mph. While his secondary stuff was fine, it remains to be seen how it will fare against a much tougher offense. This will be a huge test for the 34-year old with the Dodgers crushing righties to the tune of a .247 batting average No. 6 and .772 OPS No. 3.
Dodgers vs. Nationals Prediction
Washington has split its 20 played games when opposed by left-handed pitching with the under cashing in at an 11-9 clip. Only the Astros 5.7 have averaged more runs per game scored than the Dodgers 5.5 when running up against right-handed pitching; the over is 31-23-3 in those matchups. So on paper, Los Angeles looks to have the edge in the run scoring department. From a pitching standpoint, Kershaw also holds the advantage. Then when you compare the production of both bullpens, LA owns a slight advantage overall but there’s a much larger disparity when going back 15 games. Bottom line, the Dodgers deserve to be mid-range road chalk for this game. However, Kershaw hasn’t been his sharpest pitching away from Chavez Ravine and Kyle Schwarber is swinging a smoking hot stick having just tied the modern day home run record by launching 12 into the cheap seats in his last 10 games. Washington opposing Julio Urias the night prior should also have Juan Soto and company ready to take their hacks against another southpaw. With that, I’ll take a stab with the Nationals at a plus-money return and hope they stay hot.
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