St. Louis Cardinals v Washington Nationals: Odds, Analysis, MLB Betting Preview

The Washington Nationals (4-3) stayed tied for the division lead in the National League East on Monday with a 14-6 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals (2-5), who remained stuck in the cellar of the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Nationals will try to beat the Cardinals for the third straight time in dominant fashion on Tuesday as -135 betting favorites (wager $135 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Washington has won each of the past two meetings with St. Louis by exactly eight runs and seven of the last nine in the series overall. But three of the previous five wins for the Nats over the Cards were decided by only one run, and Washington starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez was hit hard last year in a home start versus St. Louis.

Gonzalez surrendered six runs and six hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 4.2 innings of a 9-4 loss to the Cards last May 28 at Nationals Park. He is 2-2 lifetime against St. Louis with a 2.72 ERA.

In his 2017 debut, Gonzalez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts of an eventual 4-3 loss against the Miami Marlins last Thursday, the team’s lone setback at home so far this season.

Opposing Gonzalez for the Cards will be Lance Lynn (0-0, 3.38), who pitched fairly well in his first outing of the year against the Chicago Cubs last Thursday. Like Gonzalez, Lynn also walked away with a no-decision in an eventual loss, giving up two runs and five hits in 5.1 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

Lynn missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery but does not appear to be on any kind of pitch count.

Totals bettors may want to take a look at the over again considering the last three games between the teams have all seen 12 runs or more scored. The over is 4-0 in the past four head-to-head matchups as well, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, and Gonzalez saw three of his previous four starts go over too prior to his first start this year.

Each of those three overs saw double-digit runs, and it is also worth noting that Washington’s Bryce Harper is coming off a 4-for-4 performance in the series opener while St. Louis leadoff man Dexter Fowler is 10-for-20 lifetime versus Gonzalez with a home run and four extra-base hits.