Afternoon matchups fill the majority of Thursday’s baseball betting card, and the clashes include the finale of a set in the nation’s capital where the Washington Nationals host the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Let’s see what the MLB odds for this matchup tell us!
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals
Thursday, April 21, 2022 – 04:05 PM EDT at Nationals Park
Since it’s still early, we can get excited about a matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals. That will not be the case later this season when the two teams projected by the MLB future odds to bring up the rear of their respected divisions are still taking the field.
Washington’s excitement for Thursday’s tilt is due to its opportunity to take three of four from Arizona and continue to sit in second in the NL East.
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The Diamondbacks are simply hoping to get out of town with a split before heading home to open a weekend series with the Mets who are in first of the NL East ahead of the Nationals.
‘Under’ Cashes Five of Last Six Meetings in DC
In the last of seven matinée matches on the slate, Arizona sends Zach Davies (0-1, 5.79) to the bump in search of the split.
Washington counters with Josh Rogers (1-1, 3.72), and the Nationals are priced around -125 for the contest. Some shops are carrying 8½ for the total and taxing the ‘over’ while others are offering a 9-run mark that favors the ‘under.’
Monday’s rainout forced the two sides to begin the series with a doubleheader on Tuesday, and pitching propelled the Nationals to the sweep.
Josiah Gray and four relievers authored a 6-1 final in the opener while Joan Adon tossed shutout baseball into the seventh of the 1-0 nightcap. Both finals stayed ‘under’ 8½-run totals at the best online betting sites.
Arizona roared back on Wednesday with an 11-2 mild upset as a small underdog. Merrill Kelly did the bulk of the work on the mound for the Diamondbacks, while Seth Beer had three hits and drove in three. The 11 runs were a season-high and matched their total in the previous six games.
Rogers Facing D-Backs for First Time in Career
Slapped around his last time out, Davies is looking to bounce back and snare his first win of 2022 on Thursday. The Mets cracked a pair of homers and scored five times (4 earned) before chasing Davies in the fourth inning at New York last Friday.
Davies and the Diamondbacks were overwhelming +205 underdogs at GTbets (visit our GTbets Review) in the contest. Arizona is Davies’ fourth team in as many years, and the 29-year-old has faced the Nationals five times previously going 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA.
He has won both of his starts at Nationals Park while pitching to a 1.25 ERA (14.1 IP). How much longer Rogers remains in the Washington rotation depends on how much longer Anibal Sanchez (neck) remains on the IL, and whether or not the young lefthander can impress manager Dave Martinez enough to push someone else out of the mix.
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Rogers has a nice change and curves in his repertoire, but his fastball tops out around 90 and he has been susceptible to the long ball. The former Louisville standout is coming off a poor effort in Pittsburgh last weekend when the Pirates dealt Rogers a loss (4.1 IP, 3 ER).
He’ll be facing the Diamondbacks for the first time on Thursday, and also making his first home start after going 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three assignments at Nationals Park a year ago.
Wind Blowing Out on Thursday
Monday’s rainout resulted in a little bit of a tweak to the umpire rotation, but Nic Lentz is expected to have the dish for Thursday’s series finale. Now in his seventh season working games at the big league level, Lentz has one plate assignment to his credit this season and it was an ‘over’ winner.
The Michigan native ran 15-13-2 O/U/P last year, with three of his last four times calling balls and strikes in DC failing to reach the totals at top sportsbooks. There are plenty of clouds in the Thursday afternoon forecast for DC, appropriate considering there is an abundance of cloudy minds in various roles all over Washington.
The good news is none of the clouds up in the sky are expected to bring rain, with most of the game played in the mid-60s along with a 10-13 mph SSW breeze (out to left-center). After going hitless in Tuesday’s twin bill, Juan Soto broke out with a couple of hits for Washington on Wednesday.
He’s due to go deep on Thursday, but that won’t be enough to mess with my MLB pick on the final stopping short of the total.
MLB Pick: Under 8½ (+105) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
