Game two of this interleague series sees the Nationals (53-67, 25-35 home) and Red Sox (63-56, 28-28 away) facing off at Nationals Park. The starting pitcher for the Nationals will be MacKenzie Gore, while the Red Sox are turning to James Paxton. Find out who I like to win in this Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox showdown.

BOSTON RED SOX VS WASHINGTON NATIONALS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Boston Red Sox -1.5 Runs

This game will be played at Nationals Park at 7:05 ET on Wednesday, August 16th.

WHY BET THE BOSTON RED SOX:

  • The Red Sox will be taking on a Nationals club that is just 2-3 vs. the runline over their last five games.
  • Against the runline, the Nationals have gone just 1-2 in their last three home games.
  • MacKenzie Gore has given up five away runs across his last four starts.

CAN THE BOSTON RED SOX PULL OUT A WIN AS ROAD FAVORITES?

On a record of 63-56, the Red Sox come into today’s game 4th in the AL East. When playing at home, they are 35-28 and 28-28 on the road. Boston has played in 39 series thus far, and have gone 21-15-3.

The Red Sox will turn to starter James Paxton, who has an impressive 7-3 record this season. In 15 appearances, he boasts a 3.36 ERA and 10.08 K/9 rate, while his FIP stands at 3.87 and opponents’ OBP is .282.

James Paxton earned the victory in his most recent start, surrendering no earned runs and six hits over 5 1/3 frames against Kansas City. The Red Sox emerged victorious in the contest, 2-0.

This season, the Red Sox are 10th in the league at 4.8 runs per game. Over their last ten games, they have a combined batting average of .249 (12th) leading to 3.8 runs per contest. Overall, they are generating 3.0 walks per game compared to 8 strikeouts. Boston’s on-base percentage of .327 has them 7th in the MLB.

Triston Casas has been a powerful force in the Red Sox’s lineup over their last ten games, leading the team with three home runs and bringing his season-long total to 19. The slugger has also put up an impressive .254 batting average.

WILL THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AT HOME?

120 games into the season, the Nationals have a record of 53-67, putting them 5th in the NL East. This mark includes an overall series 15-22-2. At home, they are 25-35 compared to 28-32 on the road.

Washington starter MacKenzie Gore has had a challenging season thus far, with an overall record of 6-9 and an ERA of 4.62. His ERA is significantly higher on the road (6.01) than at home (3.60). Gore’s WHIP stands at 1.43, while opponents are batting .254 against him and slugging .437.

The Nationals were on the wrong end of a 7-0 scoreline when MacKenzie Gore toed the rubber. The southpaw was unable to contain Philadelphia’s offense, surrendering six earned runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

Having gone deep 11 times in their last ten games, the Nationals are 7th in that span. At 4.3 runs per game, Washington is 18th in the league. This figure has come on a team batting average of .259 while hitting a total of 108 home runs (23rd).

The Nationals’ offense has been bolstered this season by Lane Thomas, who is batting .282 and has driven in 68 runs. Thomas has also hit 20 homers on the year.