One of the hottest teams in baseball is a massive favorite in this National League tilt on Tuesday, September 6, so make sure you don’t miss out on the best Nationals vs. Cardinals betting pick and odds.

Washington and St. Louis will play the second of a four-game series at Busch Stadium, and the Cardinals are big -260 moneyline favorites on Bovada Sportsbook, while the total is set at 8 runs. These National League foes have met three times this season before this series, and the Cards lead 2-1. Game 1 of the current series is played on Monday night, at the time of writing.

Nationals surprised the Mets in New York

The Washington Nationals perhaps have the worst record in the entire MLB, but that didn’t bother them in a three-game series against the New York Mets on the road. After losing the opener, the Nats secured a pair of shocking 7-1 wins against the leading team in the NL East.

Cesar Hernandez blasted his first home run in more than a year, while Ildemaro Vargas and Keibert Ruiz contributed with two RBIs apiece in the most recent 7-1 win. Erick Fedde improved to a 6-9 record after surrendering one run on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk across 6.0 innings. It was Fedde’s first quality start in two months.

Paolo Espino (0-6) is still searching for his first win of the campaign as he takes the mound for the 16th time on Tuesday against the Cardinals. The 35-year-old right-hander has a 4.22 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 75/19 K/BB ratio over 96.0 innings.

Cardinals are red-hot right now

The St. Louis Cardinals are the hottest team in the second half of the campaign. They lost only two series in this part of the season and won each of their last seven, including the latest one over the Chicago Cubs at home. It was a series sweep with just four runs allowed in three games. The Cards cemented their place at the top of the NL Central with nine wins ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Albert Pujols was a game-winner for the Cardinals in a 2-0 victory over the Cubs. He entered in the 8th inning as a pinch-hitter and hit a two-run homer, the 695th home run of his illustrious career. Miles Mikolas pitched for eight scoreless innings to improve to an 11-10 record, while Ryan Helsley earned his 13th save of the season.

Jose Quintana (4-6) will get his 27th start of the year (7th in St. Louis’ uniform) when he faces the Nats on Tuesday. The 33-year-old southpaw owns a solid 3.47 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 109/43 K/BB ratio in 132.1 innings of work.

Trends:

Washington:

  • 16-44 in the last 60 games vs. a left-handed starter
  • 1-4 in the last five vs. National League Central opponents
  • 5-21 in the last 26 road games vs. a left-handed starter

St. Louis:

  • 14-3 in the last 17 home games vs. a right-handed starter
  • 21-5 in the last 26 games with the total set at 7.0-8.5
  • 6-2 in the last eight vs. National League East rivals

Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Pick  

Paolo Espino is seeking his first victory of the season and I don’t think he will get it at Busch Stadium. He started once against the Cards this year and recorded a 7.71 ERA in 4.2 innings, and he allowed a .368 batting average to the Cardinals’ batter in his career. Considering that St. Louis is scoring 4.76 runs per game against right-handed pitchers, I am backing the hosts to get a comfortable win on Tuesday. The Cardinals are 5-0 in Quintana’s last five starts vs. a team with a losing record, while Jose has a 3.60 ERA in two starts against the Nats this season.

Pick: Take the Cardinals at -1.5 Run Line (-120)

The Total

Espino surrendered four runs in his previous start against the Cards, and I expect St. Louis to score 4+ runs off of him once again. Quintana didn’t post a shutout start since he became a Cardinal a month ago and allowed precisely two runs in each of his last five starts. Washington’s offense is on the rise and I am backing the visitors to score at least one or two runs against Quintana, which is a good reason for me to go with Over. Over is 5-1 in Quintana’s last six starts overall, while Over is 4-1 in the Nationals’ previous five games vs. a left-handed starter.

Pick: Go Over 8 runs (-110)