Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Milwaukee Brewers vs Washington Nationals: Can the Nationals stop the bleeding today?

The Milwaukee Brewers are visiting the Washington Nationals today at Nationals Park.

The Brewers are in the top three in the NL

The Milwaukee Brewers are on top of the NL Central with a 62-47 record, including 31-26 on the road. They have split the last ten games and lost the last two series against the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. The Brewers have a 3.74 ERA, a .237 batting average, a .309 on-base percentage, and 1.26 walks plus hits per inning pitched. William Contreras is the best player on the team with 118 hits, 67 runs, and 12 home runs so far in the season.

The Nationals are struggling lately

The Washington Nationals are fourth in the NL East with a 49-61 record, including 23-28 at home. They have lost the last 5 games including an 8-3 loss last night to the Brewers. Washington has a 4.41 ERA, a .257 batting average, a .318 on-base percentage, and 1.33 walks plus hits per inning pitched. CJ Abrams is the best player on the team, with 104 hits, 66 runs, and 16 home runs for the season.

Betting Trends

The Nationals are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games overall, 1-4 SU in their last 5 home games and 1-5 SU in their last 6 games against teams from the NL. Washington has played over the total run line in 6 of their last 7 games overall, in 4 of their last 6 games against Milwaukee and in 7 of their last 9 games against teams from the NL Central. The Brewers are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games overall and 10-2 SU in their last 12 games played in August. Milwaukee has played over the total run line in 5 of their last 7 games overall, in 7 of their last 9 games against teams from the NL East, and in 4 of their last 6 games played on Saturday.

Prediction and Conclusion

The Washington Nationals are just terrible this week and are going into this one after losing the last five games, a stretch that included a 17-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nats will try to end the losing streak with DJ Herz, who is 1-4 for the season with a 4.79 ERA, 53 K, 41.1 IP, and 1.33 WHIP. The Brewers will also have a pitcher with a losing record, as Aaron Civale is 2-7 for the season with a 4.92 ERA, 105 K, 108 IP, and 1.39 WHIP. Both teams have played over the total run in the majority of their recent games, including the series opener, so given that and the starting pitchers, we go with over 9 runs in total.