Baseball Picks: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals: August 22nd 2009

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals o9.5 (110)
Sat August 22nd 2009 7:05p
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Get ready for another slugest tonight in D.C. as the Brewers and Nationals seek their sixth straight OVER.

One of the National League’s top young pitchers will be going for the Nationals in the middle game of the three games series Washington’s John Lannan has struggled in his last three starts going 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA and topping the total to the tune of 2-0. However his body of work for the 2009 season has been solid. Lannan is 8-9 with a 3.68 ERA and he’s been ‘lights out’ at home. The former Washington Huskie is 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA. Not surprisingly in games Lannan has pitched the OVER is 16-8 and 9-4 to the high side at home. Lannan is the classic soft-tosser. He’s got just 67 strikeouts on the season and his game is all about finding the strike zone and staying there.

The Nationals will also need some innings from Lannan. The less you use the Nat’s the better for them. Washington’s ranks dead last in all of baseball. Opposing batters are hitting .263 and the Nats pen has a 17-33 record.

Mike Burns gets the start for the Brewers tonight and his work this campaign has been less than stellar. Burns is 3-4 with a 5.38 ERA. He like Lannan has been scuffed up in his last three outings going 1-2 with a 5.17 ERA. Burns has also been susceptible to the long ball surrendering nine big flies in 45+ innings.That could spell trouble against the likes of Adam Dunn who has hit 32 homeruns on the year and nine since the all-star brreak. Ryan Zimmerman is also licking his chops for a chance to face Burns. Zimmerman is hitting .300 on the season with 24 roundtrippers.

The two teams are 5-0 vs.. the OVER this year and it’s tough to buck that trend in this situation. Prince fielder and Ryan Braun are still bashing and with Dunn and Zimmerman posing a 1-2 power combination another OVER should materialize tonight. While I suspect that Lannan will be better at home there’s still that control issue. That could prove costly against a Brewers team that is undergoing a roster transformation but stll remains potent. J.J. Hardy was sent to the minors, Bill Hall was traded to Seattle and Milwaukee has a wavier claim in on Doug Davis. While the faces may change, this team can still mash.

The suggested play tonight is on the OVER as the Nats and Brewers play another edition of homerun derby.

Good Luck!