The Pirateshave the worst record in baseball, but they have not been terrible at home and it is the Nats with a struggling Livan Hernandez that don’t merit this respect on the road.
It is not too often that you can play against the Washington Nationals at close to a Pick’em price when they are on the road, and we feel the Nats are overvalued here vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The bookmakers have the MLB betting odds on the Pirates here at -105 at home.
Livan Hernandez got off to a blazing start for the Nationals this season, but he has crashed back down to earth as of late. He has gotten rocked in each of his last two outings, allowing five earned runs in 6.1 innings vs. a St. Louis offense that has struggled lately, and seven earned runs in 4.1 innings vs. a Cubs offense that has struggled all year! Most importantly, Hernandez’s velocity is back to where it was in recent seasons after he added a couple of MPH earlier on.
Meanwhile, Zach Duke of the Pirates has allowed three runs or less in six of his last nine starts, and the young southpaw is facing a Washington lineup that is struggling vs. left-handed pitching lately, as the Nats are batting just .221 vs. lefties over the last 10 games. Duke has also allowed three runs or less in three of his last four starts vs. Washington, and he allowed only four runs in the other outing.
Now the Pirates do have the worst record in baseball at 44-89, but they are a much more respectable 30-36 at home while the Nationals are a dreadful 23-46 on the road, which automatically makes their opposition worth a long look at this price when the Nats are travelling.
You will not hear us say this often, but the Pirates actually offer good value at this price.
Free Play: Pirates -105