This is a modified post that I originally typed up in another thread this morning. For the sixth game in a row, I am on the Washington Nationals. Big shock.
Mocking the Nationals tonight (get it?) is potentially a big mistake. In fact, the tens of thousands of sports bettors who've been underestimating the Nats all week have been making terrible, costly mistakes. A bet against this team tonight is another horrible blunder. Win or lose, it is the dead wrong play. Garrett Mock isn't any good, but so what? In his last start, he put his team in a quick 3-0 hole. He got a quick hook himself and the team went on to win easily, 8-4. So what if he puts his team in a hole early on? All the natty Nats do is come back, baby. They not only come back, they rally furiously and overwhelm teams! Frankly, I don't think any comeback will be necessary tonight, anyways.
Both of these teams came in to last night's series opener with surprising 5-game winning streaks but terrible records overall. The D-Backs built themselves a fast 5-0 lead, but like the last three Washington opponents (Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Florida), they watched their big lead go up in smoke and ultimately got nipped by a score of 7-6, waving goodbye to their longest win streak of the season. For a team 10 games under .500 and going nowhere, this was a real downer, and having to come back to face these resilient Nationals as -200 favorites is a complete joke, in my opinion.
No one should want to mess with these red-hot Nats right now, especially when they're playing a team that just let one get away. Check out what the Nats have done in just the last two weeks:
On July 27th, the Brewers took an early 2-0 lead on the Nats before Washington buried them with 13 runs in the 5th and 6th innings. The next day, the Nats blew them out as +175 dogs.
Last Saturday, the Pirates carried a 2-1 lead into the 7th inning before giving it up and losing, 5-3. The next day, they built that 3-0 lead against Garrett Mock. Mock was removed after just 4 innings and the Nats, getting +140, went on to paste the Pirates, 8-4.
On Monday, off another comeback win, the Nationals fell way behind Josh Johnson and the Marlins. They looked completely handcuffed until the 8th inning when they busted out the whooping sticks and shocked Florida with a 6-run rally. Off of that glorious comeback as +170 barking dogs, the Nats won again the next day.
On Thursday, the Nationals weak starting pitching again got them stuck early on, this time 6-0! No problem! The powerhouse Nationals battered the stunned Marlins for 12 runs in their last five at-bats to win going away, 12-8, this time cashing a crazy +160 ticket.
So, are you ready to invest in the Nats? Wait! Don't answer! Because there's more! Last night, another crappy pitcher got the Nationals down big again, this time 5-0 in the 2nd inning. Well, that was cake. The Nats put up seven runs later on and won again.
After all of these confidence-building wins, it's silly to doubt this team tonight. They not only believe they can compete, they also feel like they're never out of a game. They're up against Dan Haren tonight, but that's no reason to be scared away. Okay, quick question - who's allowed more earned runs in his last three starts, Haren or Garrett Mock? No, it's Dan Haren. See, that was a trick question.
The price on this game was so wacky that it did something a Nationals line seldom does. It came down. Early this morning, Arizona was -215 and Washington was +197 at Pinnacle. Now the Nats can be had for +180 or maybe a little better. That's still a very phat price for a red-hot home team that I personally consider to be the favorite in this game. I've also got some action on the alternate runline at +410 and +385, but not very much. Seems the alternate runline has been hit hard, which doesn't take very much money to do.
I know what your referring to as far as the Nats ability to come back is concerned. they light up in a hurry and probubly play most of their games in that mindset so ........Sign me up..
Hot Forum Topics
