The Cincinnati Reds welcome in the Washington Nationals in Major League Baseball action later today. The game is is scheduled for a 4:10 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on MLB.tv. Currently the odds for the game have the Nationals listed as a decent favorite to pick up the win on the road.
Washington has been playing well of late, winning nine of their last 12 games overall. The Nationals now find themselves atop the National League East by a game and a half over the New York Mets, although there is more concern now for Stephen Strasburg who left his start last night against the Reds after just 16 pitches.
The Cincinnati Reds are 11.5 games outside of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals, with just a 20-27 record. Cincinnati is just 2-8 the last 10 games overall and have been out-scored by 34 runs this season. Washington owns a +25 run differential this season over opponents.
The Nats will send crafty veteran Gio Gonzalez to the mound today. He's 4-2 with a not-so-great 4.53 ERA this season and most of the damage against him has come on the road, where he is 2-2 with a 5.52 ERA in 29 1/3 innings. Current Reds are just .182 against Gonzalez in 88 plate appearances, Joey Votto owns the lone home run of those players.
Cincinnati trots out rookie Raisel Iglesias. He's 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA this year. He's had one great start against Atlanta where Iglesias tossed eight innings, scattering two hits and allowing just one earned run. Since then he hasn't been poor, yielding five earned runs in six innings in spot work.
Today, we'll take the Nationals to knock around the rookie a little bit.
Free Pick: Washington
NFL Free Pick: Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
According to professional sports bettor Steve Fezzik, the early bird can catch a profitable worm if they put money down on Green Bay's opening week showing against the Chicago Bears. With the line currently at -4.5 at most Vegas sports books, Fezzik predicts it will move to -6.5 come game day, as no one is going to be betting on the Jay Cutler-helmed Bears, so the money will pour in on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. With that being the case, time strike early while the iron is hot.
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