MLB Expert Picks For NL East Washington Vs Arizona

Posted by Eric Williams on Tuesday,May 2, 2017 3:45, EDT in

MLB Baseball News

The NL East-leading Washington Nationals will look to hold down the fort at home when they host the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks in an intriguing matchup of two of baseball’s best teams in the early going this season.

The Nats and D-Backs were both coming off of victories heading into Tuesday night’s series opener. Now, let’s find out if Washington can avoid the home upset as well as the latest baseball betting lines here.

In Depth Analysis On The MLB Expert Picks For NL East Nationals Vs Diamondbacks

When: Wednesday, May 3 at 7:05 PM ET
Where: Nationals Park
TV: FS-A, MASN 2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, ESPN Phoenix 620, KHOV 105.1
Pitchers: Arizona – Robbie Ray – L (2-1, 3.56 ERA, 39K) / Washington – Gio Gonzalez – L (3-0, 1.62 ERA, 26 K)
Live Stream: MLB.TV
MLB Odds: TBA

Why Bet The Arizona Diamondbacks Odds

The best reason to back Arizona in this contest is that the D-Backs have been rock solid in ranking fourth in scoring (5.2 rpg) and seventh in team ERA (3.85) in the early going. Arizona got past Colorado in their 2-0 win on Sunday as Daniel Descalso smacked a two-run homer on a 0-2 pitch from Jordan Lyles into the swimming pool in right-center field in the 13th inning. The Diamondbacks and Rockies combined for 30 strikeouts and zero runs until Descalso’s game-winning jack. The game was the first ever to go scoreless past the 11th inning at Chase Field, which opened in 1998.

“I not trying to hit a home run there,” said Descalso, who hit his first career walk-off homer against one of his old teams. “It is a 0-2 count, and he made a pitch over the middle of the plate. I put a good swing on it”

“Wow, great win,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “A great win. Everybody at some point in time chipped in for the moment. “The pitching was unbelievable. It kept a very good offensive team scoreless and gave us a chance to maneuver and do some things to win the ballgame.”

Robbie Ray makes his third road start of the season, but he’s excelled away from Chase Field this season. The left-hander is 1-0 with a 0.71 ERA on the road versus his 1-1 record with a 5.60 ERA in three outings at home.

Why Bet The Washington Nationals Odds

The best reason to back the Nationals is that they’ve been smacking the cover off the ball since the start of the season in ranking first in scoring (6.8 rpg), first in team batting average (.295), first in OPS (.879) and second in home runs (43). Washington smacked the New York Mets senseless in their stunning 23-5 win on Sunday despite not having starting center fielder Adam Eaton on the field.

Third baseman Anthony Rendon went 6-for-6 with three home runs and a career-high 10 RBIs while Matt Wieters added two homers in the win. Ryan Zimmerman had three hits and two RBIs, to set a new team record with 29 RBIs in the month of April.

“That was ridiculous,” struggling Nationals starting pitcher Joe Ross said of the reserved Rendon. “It is pretty ridiculous. He is swinging it.”

The Nationals scored at least 10 runs for the fourth time in less than a week. Washington set a franchise record for runs and homers in a game.

“A hit parade,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said. “A big day for us.”

Rendon said, “It was fun to see.”

The Nats will hand the ball to veteran right-hander Gio Gonzalez in this contest and that could mean trouble for Arizona with the left-hander not allowing more than two earned runs in any of his five starts this season while tossing at least six innings in every start.

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction

There’s not a whole lot of sense in beating around the bush since Washington is clearly the right pick. Arizona has struggled to a 4-6 road record while going just 7-18 in Robbie Ray’s last 25 road starts and 2-8 in Ray’s last 10 road starts against a team with a winning record.

While the Nats are just 1-4 in their last five games against a left-handed starter, Washington has also gone 4-0 in Gio Gonzalez’s last four starts and 8-2 in Gonzalez’s last 10 home starts. Last but not least, Washington is 12-5 in their last 17 home games against Arizona and 23-9 in the last 32 meetings against the D-Backs overall. Washington wins behind another masterful effort from Gio Gonzalez.