Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals Betting Odds & Picks: July 18th 2009

Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals u8.0 (-110) - Sat July 18th 2009 7:05p
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The Cubs needed a two-run double from pitcher Carlos Zambrano to beat the Nationals on Friday. That gives you an idea how they’re struggling at the plate. The Nationals despite a decent team batting average of .262 have struggled lately to get runners across the dish. Put that combination together and you’ve got the makings of a nice UNDER play in the nation’s capital.

The Cubs are banged up. Alfonso Soriano who was showing signs of breaking out a season long slump will miss today’s game with a swollen finger. Chicago is already without Geovany Soto who was also starting to heat up before he went on the DL.

Even the healthy Cubbies are struggling at the plate. Leadoff hitter Kos Fukodome is hitting just .255. Free agent bust Milton Bradley has a .239 BA. Backup catcher Koy Hill is batting just .208. Outside of Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs don’t have much else to offer offensively. As a team the Cubs are hitting .247 the second lowest average in the NL. The Cubs average just 4.14 runs per game, 26th in MLB.

Washington is in a 1 for 23 rut with runners in scoring position in the last three games, including an 0-for-8 performance Friday. The Nats rank 20th in baseball in runs scored with 4.31 per game.

The starting pitchers for tonight’s tilt are solid if not spectacular. Rookie Jordan Zimmerman will look for his fourth win of the year and at the same time given interim manager Jim Riggleman his first victory. Zimmermann,has a 2.70 ERA in his last seven games and three quality starts in his last four outings.

Fellow rookie Randy Wells goes for the Cubs. He’s 4-4 with a 2.72 ERA and was moved up one day to start in place of Ted Lilly. Wells will be after his fifth win in six outings.

If I didn’t make a compelling enough case to go low tonight consider these trends:
The UNDER is 8-0 in the last eight series meetngs in Washington and nine of the last 11 meetings have played to the low side. In addition the Cubs are 21-6 to the UNDER in their last 27 road games. Chicago is 49-36 to the UNDER this season while Washington is 47-39.

Playing total’s have been a risky proposistion for yours truly but given the way these two teams are struggling at the plate right now, a slugfest is definitely out of the question.