Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
After rallying back to stun the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, the Washington Nationals have continued to be road warriors with their fourth straight victory away from home on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series.
Now Washington can take a commanding 3-0 lead Monday by winning as -133 home favorites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Jack Flaherty (11-8, 2.75 ERA) gets the call for the Cardinals on Monday in this critical situation for his team, and he will have a tough task ahead of him in trying to top Stephen Strasburg (18-6, 3.32 ERA) and the Nationals as +113 road underdogs at online betting sites. Flaherty has been solid in splitting his first two postseason starts, allowing four runs and 12 hits in 13 innings against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. He has walked two batters and struck out 16.
Meanwhile, Strasburg is 2-0 in three playoff appearances, earning one of the two wins in the role of a reliever following starter Max Scherzer in the Wild Card game. He has given up a total of four runs and nine hits in 15 innings with one walk and 21 strikeouts. Strasburg also went 1-0 in two starts versus the Cardinals this year with a 2.31 ERA.
Dating back to the regular season, Washington has continued to be the hottest team in baseball by winning 14 of its last 16 games, according to the OddsShark MLB Database. In addition, the Nationals have not dropped consecutive games in a month, with the last time taking place on September 13 and 14. So it does seem unlikely that St. Louis will be able to go into Nationals Park and even this series with two wins.
That said, the Cardinals won two of three road games against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, including Game 7. But after erupting for 13 runs in that clincher, their bats have gone silent with only four hits and one run combined in Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS.
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