National League Divisional Series Game 3 Cardinals vs Nationals Preview

St. Louis Cardinals (Carpenter R) +101 at Washington Nationals (Jackson R) -111 Total: OvUn 7.5 Wednesday, October 10th 1:00 EST

St. Louis

The Cardinals make their first trip to Washington on Wednesday, as Chris Carpenter and Edwin Jackson face off in Game 3 of the NLDS.

The series is tied 1-1 after a Monday night blow out victory by the Cardinals, who chased Washington starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman after only three innings of work. Beltran lead the way for the Cardinals; he had two home runs in the game and is hitting .375 in two divisional series games. The Cardinals amassed 13 hits throughout the game and won by a final score of 12-4. Reliever, Lance Lynn got the win after Jaime Garcia was pulled after just two innings, and four separate relievers pitched the final four innings.

St. Louis will start right hander Chris Carpenter, who has pitched just 17 innings this season. Career wise Carpenter has been excellent in the postseason, posting a 9-2 record in the playoffs and an ERA of 3.07.

Washington

The Nationals will counter Carpenter with right hander Edwin Jackson, who was a member of the St. Louis squad who won the Championship in 2011. Jackson has had a modest year, sporting an ERA of 4.03 and a 10-11 record, to go with just under 190 innings pitched.

The Nats took the first game of the series with a 3-2 win, thanks to a clutch hit by pinch hitter Tom Moore, which drove in two runs in the top of the 8th to give the Nationals the lead. They hope to bounce back, after suffering a loss in Game 2.

Our Play

Moneyline odds are close on this matchup, and the pitchers are matched fairly close in our opinion. While, Jackson is nothing remarkable, he has kept his team in ballgames this season. Carpenter is more of a wildcard – he’s been extremely impressive in the past postseasons but has not looked dominant in his 17 innings so far this season and is clearly rusty. Neither side seems to have accomplished splits against either mound opponent – except Yadier Molina, who is hitting .667 with two home runs and 8 hits in twelve at bats against Jackson.

Still, we like the National bats to wake up Wednesday afternoon. Both teams may end of hitting the ball on a 72 degree day at Nationals Park. We like the Nationals and see this one going over.

Our picks – Nationals -111 and Over 7.5

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