Nationals Will Look To Grab Series Split Against Cardinals

Cardinals vs. Nationals, 4:05 ET

Weekends continue to be the most frustrating part of my MLB season. Perhaps it is because I am putting fewer games out there on the weekend so there is little chance for going 1-1 on a day when you only have one play. However, yesterday was a true gut punch as I lost in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Mariners and Blue Jays were cruising to an easy five-inning under before the Mariners put up three runs in the bottom half of the inning. That pushed my one baseball play to a loss on the day. Luckily, the WNBA continues to print money for me this season, saving me from a bad day. I'm hoping to get a really strong baseball week going. It has been a little too long since I went on a hot streak, and I'm looking to start it here as the Cardinals take on the Nationals.

The Cardinals are starting to look like the baseball team that devoted baseball fans have come to know over the years. After a disaster of a season last year, and a tough beginning to this year, they are starting to look like the strong red birds team that they've had for years. Now they are 47-42 and looking to keep gaining ground on the Brewers who have just a five game lead in the division right now. The Cardinals have turned their season around in the past month and finally look like they are hitting and pitching the ball well. Their ERA is finally under 4.00, and their WHIP is just at 1.27. Opponents are still hitting fairly well off of the club at .248, but it certainly could be worse. For the offense, they are now at .243 for a batting average and they have found ways to manufacture runs even if their best two hitters (Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado) have lost their ability to hit (Goldschmidt) and hit for power (Arenado). Tonight, they might not need a perfect offensive outing, but it will help with Miles Mikolas on the mound. Mikolas is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde type of pitcher. Sometimes he turns in absolute gems, like his six inning, five hit, two earned run outing against the Pirates last week. Then he also produces a 4.1-inning outing where he allows 12 hits and 10 runs to the Reds two starts ago. Overall, Mikolas has a 6-7 record and a 5.19 ERA with a 1.22 WHIP. He isn't walking a ton of hitters, and hasn't been allowing a ton of homers either, but hitters are batting .269 against him. He has been better on the road with a 4.42 ERA. Nationals hitters have been very good against him in 45 at-bats, carrying a .289 average and five extra-base hits. 

Cardinals' starter Miles Mikolas against the Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee. (John Fisher/Getty Images)

The Nationals align fairly well with the Cardinals. Still, they aren't above .500. They are sitting at 42-48 for the season, which I maintain is still more impressive and better than the expectations they had coming into the season. Baseball is interesting because you can have the same team year-to-year and sometimes the team hits, and sometimes they don't. Right now, the Nationals, for the most part, are hitting with a .239 average and producing 381 runs on the season. Their pitching staff is very similar to the Nationals with a 4.02 ERA overall and a 1.28 WHIP. Opponents are hitting them slightly better than the Cardinals staff at .253. The Nationals are certainly out of the divisional race, but there is a possibility they could make a run at the Wild Card if the team chooses to not sell at the deadline. Tonight's starter is Mitchell Parker, one of the many young arms the Nationals have on the team. He is putting together a nice campaign with a 5-4 record and a 3.61 ERA, and a 1.10 WHIP. His most recent outing wasn't the best one of his season as he allowed five earned runs on three homers in six innings. That was his worst outing of the season. He's been stronger at home with six starts so far and just 13 earned runs allowed. 

I'll be very honest and up front about this: I am not great at picking Miles Mikolas games. So why do I keep doing it to myself? Not really sure, but I do think the Nationals can steal this game from the Cardinals. Both teams are playing fairly well. The Nationals are trying to get a series split in the four-game set, and that doesn't always mean they will win or play harder. In this case though, I think the Nationals can take this game. I wouldn't be surprised to see them win through five with Parker on the hill though and would prefer to take that at -125 rather than the full game. 

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