Monday night baseball and we will see the Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen's Bank Stadium in Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on ESPN. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have Washington listed as the favorite.
Current Odds
Washington -120
Philadelphia +110
Over/ Under: 9 O -140
Analysis: Winners of four straight contests, the Nationals will hit the road to begin a series with the Phillies tonight. Bryce Harper was supposed to sit out the weekend after struggling in his return from the disabled list, but the young slugger talked his way back into the lineup and ended up with a combined fours RBIs in Saturday and Sunday victories over the San Diego Padres. Harper, who was voted a starter for the NL All-Star team, is 4-for-6 in the last two games. The one Nationals player who has really done well against Lannan in his career is Jayson Werth, who is 9-for-27 with four walks, 4 HR, 7 RBI and a 1.271 OPS. The Nationals are 13-10 (.565, 8th in majors) against southpaws this season, though they have been a subpar road team with just a 19-24 record (.442, 18th in MLB) away from Washington. Dan Haren has been on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation but is expected to be activated to start in place of Ross Detwiler, who is headed to the DL with back pain. Haren has been the weak link of an otherwise strong rotation and had allowed 20 runs in 18 1/3 innings over four starts before landing on the DL. The veteran right-hander has gone 0-6 in his last eight starts but the two no-decisions in that span came against Philadelphia.
The Phillies have won four of six in July and are coming off back-to-back series wins against first-place teams Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Philadelphia has 22 runs and 43 hits in its past four games (3-1 record), but will continue to be without 1B Ryan Howard (knee) for at least the next two weeks and maybe more. 1B Darin Ruf is 2-for-4 with three runs scored in two games since being recalled to replace Howard. Haren will be happy Howard (2 HR in 11 career at-bats) is out of the lineup Monday, but he’ll have to keep a close eye on Michael Young, who has a career .313 BA with 11 RBI in 64 at-bats against him. Lannan spent the first six years of his career with Washington before winding up in Philadelphia during the offseason and has been inconsistent with his new team. The 28-year-old lefty was knocked around for four runs on a season-high 11 hits in five innings to suffer a loss at Pittsburgh last Wednesday and has gone more than five innings once in his last five turns. Lannan held his former team to two runs on six hits in five innings but did not factor in the decision on June 17.
Pick: I will go with the Over here. Even without Howard the Philly lineup is continuing to produce and they will be taking on Dan Haren, who has a 9.81 ERA in his last 4 starts. John Lannan has been hit around of late, posting a 6.46 ERA in his last 5 starts, and he will be facing a very hot Washington offense that has averaged 6.3 rpg in its last 10 games. This one should be a fun one.
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