Thursday night in MLB will see the Washington National take on the San Diego Padres in the final game of this 3 games series. The game is scheduled for a 10:05 pm start time and it will be televised live on Fox locally. Currently the odds have Washington favored at -114, while the Padres are dogs of +110 . The total is sitting at 6.5 runs for the contest.
Free Analysis: I would say Washington has been surging but than again they have been surging since opening day. Strong starting pitching has been a key reason for the Washington Nationals' early success. The rotation has certainly had its way with the San Diego Padres of late. The Nationals look to complete a three-game sweep of the Padres with a fifth straight victory Thursday night at Petco Park. Jordan Zimmermann threw four shutout innings Wednesday to help Washington (14-4) set a club record with 26 straight scoreless frames from its starters. Orlando Hudson snapped the streak with a solo homer in the fifth, but the Nationals rolled to a 7-2 win. The bats had a huge night with eleven hits and six walks with Wilson Ramos leading the way with two hits and a pair of RBI's. Altogether, six different players knocked in runs and seven hit safely. First in the NL East, Washington has won six straight series to open the season thanks to a 1.71 ERA from its starters. Washington turns to Edwin Jackson (1-1, 4.26 ERA) to help complete the sweep Thursday. After giving up two hits in a complete-game 4-1 win over Cincinnati on April 14, Jackson was tagged for five first-inning runs before throwing four scoreless frames during an 11-4 loss to Houston last Thursday. he right-hander has been very hittable while going 0-3 with a 5.16 ERA in five career starts versus San Diego. Back to back defeats at the hands of visiting Washington has left the Padres with only three victories in the past ten contests and leaving the team searching for answers. The question has to be how can this team score some runs and I don't have any answer with the bats struggling for consistency over the past several years. Batting .207 overall and .185 at home, San Diego has scored two or fewer runs nine times this year. Despite his team's offensive struggles, Hudson has batted .310 (9 for 29) in the last eight games, while he's 2 for 2 with a double and a walk versus Jackson. Edinson Volquez (0-2, 4.30) looks to help the Padres avoid the sweep while trying a fifth time for his first win with his new team. The right-hander carried a two-hit shutout into the seventh, but he gave up three runs and did not get out of the inning in Friday's 4-1 loss to Philadelphia. Volquez walked three, giving him 15 in 23 innings. He's 1-1 with a 9.72 ERA in two starts against the Nationals but has not faced them since 2010.
Free Pick: The Nats are the better team here, while the Padres are playing like i expected them to at the beginning of the year. Washington has Edwin Jackson going today and he has been decent thus far, with a 1-1 mark and a 4.26 ERA. He has struggled with the Pads, going 90-3 with a 5.20 ERA in his last 5 starts vs them, while here he is 0-1 with a 2.59 ERA. Edinson Volquez has not really helped the Pads as they thought he would as he has an 0-2 mark with a 4.30 ERA on the year, while he is 0-4 with a 4.75 ERA in his last 7 starts overall dating back to last year. Edinson is 1-1 in 2 career starts vs the Nats, but with a high 9.72 ERA. Washington is hot and the Pads are not. look for it to continue here.
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Free Picks: Nationals at Padres Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Padres are a poor home team last couple seasons and Jackson has done well in prior starts at PetCo plus other factors MLB bettors need to know about Nationals at Padres (Thursday, April 26, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Scott Spreitzer.