The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals meet in MLB action from Nationals Park on Sunday. Let’s dive into the odds, starting pitching matchup, history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
Pittsburgh is a -140 road favorite while Washington is a +120 home underdog. The total for this game is set at 8 runs.
Starting Pitching Matchup
Johan Oviedo will start for the Pirates here and is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA and 29 strikeouts this season. Josiah Gray will start for Washington here and is 1-4 with a 2.93 ERA and 25 strikeouts this season.
Matchup History
Pittsburgh’s 16-1 win on Saturday in game two of the doubleheader made it three straight wins for the Pirates in this head-to-head matchup.
Trends
Pittsburgh is 19-7 in their last 26 games overall and 9-1 in their last 10 games following a win while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Washington is 16-37 in their last 53 games overall and 14-40 in their last 54 home games while the under is 7-3 in their last 10 games overall.
Pick
I’m backing the Pirates here. Pittsburgh’s simply the better team by a fair margin and the Nationals aren’t a team I’m looking to back at the best of times, but I’d need a heck of a lot more plus money if I were to even think about considering the Nats here. Am I a Johan Oviedo fan? Not really, but the team behind him is playing pretty well right now and as such I’ll back the Pirates for the win in this one.