St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals Betting Preview, Matchup Odds

The Washington Nationals will be going for their fifth victory in six games Wednesday after snapping a five-game winning streak by the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 win in 10 innings Tuesday.

The Nationals are finally starting to play like the 7-2 favorites to take the National League pennant on the MLB betting futures following a rough 2-6 start to the season, while the Cardinals are still tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the 4-1 second choice despite their latest loss.

Washington third baseman Yunel Escobar provided the heroics in the series opener by hitting the game-winning solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning. Escobar had gone 0-for-4 prior to that big hit, with St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday extending the game in the top of the ninth by singling home third baseman Matt Carpenter for the game-tying run.

Holliday went 4-for-4 to raise his batting average to .425, which ranks second in the NL.

The Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak versus the Cardinals with the win and also beat them for just the third time in the last 15 meetings, according to the OddsShark MLB Database.

Washington will send right-hander Doug Fister (1-0, 0.69 ERA) to the mound for his third outing after a stellar start to the year, as he has surrendered just one earned run in 13 innings so far with five walks and five strikeouts.

Fister earned his first win of the season in his previous outing last Thursday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, scattering four hits over 6.2 innings with four walks and four strikeouts.

St. Louis will counter with John Lackey (1-0, 2.77), who will also be making his third start of the year. Lackey got his first victory in his previous outing as well, blanking the Milwaukee Brewers last Thursday at home over seven innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.

However, the Cardinals have lost in each of Lackey’s last five road starts.

Bettors can again expect another low-scoring affair when these two teams square off, with the under going 11-1-2 in the previous 14 meetings at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

The under has also cashed in on four of Fister’s past five starts overall and six of eight along with five of the previous seven outings for Lackey.