StatFox.com - Sports Handicapping Community

The Leader In Sports Handicapping

Nationals host Cubs on Tuesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 6/14/2016  at  12:03:00 PM
  Print This Article    

CHICAGO CUBS (43-19)

at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (40-24)

First pitch: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Chicago -115, Washington +105, Total: 7.0

The Nationals will be looking to win their fifth straight game when they host the Cubs on Tuesday.

The Cubs and Nationals played the first of a three-game set on Monday and Washington won that game 4-1. The team racked up 10 hits in the game, but Chicago was only able to get two hits in the contest. That was mostly because of the impressive pitching of Max Scherzer. He struck out 11 batters in the game and allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work. The starters in this game won’t be quite as fun to watch, as RHP John Lackey (7-2, 2.63 ERA, 84 K) will be on the mound for the Cubs and LHP Gio Gonzalez (3-5, 3.93 ERA, 71 K) will be going up against him for the Nationals. Chicago is 4-1 against Washington this season, but the team is just 4-4 against the Nationals when playing at Nationals Park. One thing favoring the Cubs is that they are an impressive 25-11 against the money line on the road with a money line of -100 to -125 over the past two seasons. Chicago is, however, 3-14 against the money line in road games after giving up one or less earned runs in his last outing over the past three seasons.

The Cubs have been one of the most dominant teams in baseball this season, but they are down in this series and will be looking to even it up on Tuesday. John Lackey will be the guy tasked with getting Chicago a victory in this one and he has been excellent recently. Lackey has not allowed a run in his past 13.2 innings on the mound and he has also allowed just one earned run over his past 20.2 innings. He has struck out 8.5 batters per game over the past two contests and should be feeling really confident coming into this one. It also doesn’t hurt that he already has one good start against the Nationals under his belt this season, allowing just two earned runs in seven innings against Washington on May 6. One guy to keep an eye on in this game for Chicago is OF Dexter Fowler (.289, 7 HR, 28 RBI). Fowler is 8-for-17 with a homer and three RBI against Gio Gonzalez in his career and should be able to find some success against him on Tuesday. It’d be big if he could get on base in this game. 3B Kris Bryant (.277, 15 HR, 45 RBI) could also have a big game in store in this one. He is 2-for-5 with a homer and a walk against Gonzalez in his career. He has gone hitless in his past two games, so this matchup could be exactly what he needs to get back on track.

The Nationals have been on fire recently and they can guarantee themselves a series win with a victory over the Cubs on Tuesday. Gio Gonzalez is the guy that will take the ball for them and he’ll need to be sharp in this one. He struggled badly against Chicago in his last matchup with the team, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work. That type of performance will put way too much pressure on the Nationals’ hitters, so he’ll need to find a way to put in a quality start on Tuesday. Offensively, Jayson Werth (.246, 10 HR, 35 RBI) could be in for a big game. He is on a six-game hitting streak for Washington and also happens to be 7-for-17 with a homer, four doubles and three RBI against Lackey in his career. It’d be big if he can drive in some runs in this one. OF Bryce Harper (.256, 13 HR, 38 RBI) will, however, need to come through in this one as well. He is 0-for-7 against Lackey in his career and needs to find a way to figure him out on Tuesday.


FoxSheets.com
The FoxSheets - the most advanced sports handicapping information available on the internet.
Sign up for professional sports betting information including fantastic trends, and Free FoxSheets.
E-mail: