Can The Nationals Pitching Overcome The Astros, well, Everything? It's World Series Time!

Say goodbye to the Cardinals and the Yankees--we hardly knew ya--and say hello to the Nationals and Astros, the participants in the 115th edition of the World Series . The Astros will be playing in their second World Series in the last three years and third overall (they won in 2017), while the Nationals will be playing not only in the first one in franchise history but also the first in D.C. baseball history.

Let’s take a closer look at the series and at a few of the markets.

Tale of the Tape

On May 23rd, the Nationals were 19-31 and tied with the Marlins for last place in the NL East and had one more loss than the Detroit Tigers, a team that finished 47-114. Then they went crazy, going 74-38--tied with the Dodgers for the best record in the National League. They came back to beat the Brewers in the Wild Card game, then they beat the best team in the NL Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series, and lastly, a surprising sweep of the Cardinals in the NLCS. They are playing great baseball right now and shouldn’t be underestimated, especially with aces Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin leading the way.

The Astros took a completely different road to the Series. They won the most games in the majors (107-55), cruising to the AL West title by ten games. They got pushed to a game 5 vs. Tampa in the divisional series, and took care of another 100-win team in the New York Yankees in six games in the ALCS. They too are led by a trio of aces in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke. Cole in particular has been an absolute Death Star of a starting pitcher since May. He’s won 18 straight decisions--the longest such streak in baseball history--and has a 1.59 ERA in his last 25 starts. Needless to say he gets the ball in Game 1.

Betting The Series

There are several interesting plays available if one wants to wager on the World Series. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Under 6.5 total runs (+104) Game 1

The opening game of the World Series is usually tight. Millions around the world are watching, many players have never played on that stage before, and you usually have the best pitcher from each team starting. This will be no different. Scherzer vs. Cole is one of the greatest game 1 matchups in World Series history. This is must-see tv at its finest. We don’t anticipate many runs scored at all, and a score of 3-1 or 4-2 sounds very likely. Playing the under holds a ton of value here.

First To 4 Runs--Tie: No team to reach 4 (+215) Game 1
This is another play where you’re banking on Cole and Scherzer to dominate the game. With this particular bet, you’re saying neither team will score four runs. We’ve waxed poetic about Cole already, but also know he’s allowed more than three runs in just three of 36 starts this season. Scherzer hasn’t been as good, but he’s still Max Scherzer. In his last outing vs. St. Louis in the NLCS, he steamrolled them, limiting them to just one hit over seven innings and striking out 11. The Astros are a really good hitting ballclub, especially vs. righties, but when Mad Max is on, he can shut out any lineup.

Washington Nationals (+155) -- Moneyline - First 5 Innings
The Nationals have the starting pitching to hang with Houston, at least for the first half of the games. Making wagers on the First 5 Innings gets you away from any influence the Nationals bullpen may have on the game since they are the Achilles’ heel of the Nats. There’s a good chance that this wager will hold plus-value for all of the games; the Nats will mostly be the F5 (First 5 Innings) underdog so this wager comes highly recommended. These are the two best starting rotations in baseball and backing the Nats here keeps you away from that wonky bullpen.

Exact outcome of Series -- Houston Astros to win 4-1 (+440)
The Astros are pretty heavy favorites to win the World Series, and rightfully so. They are the better team, and were the best team in baseball the entire season. They have no real weaknesses to exploit. So there’s no value in betting on them to win the series. Where the value lies is in the exact outcome. The Nationals can get one game this series, even two. But it’s called gambling for a reason. The Astros have a great chance to go back to D.C. for game 3 up 2-0, with Greinke pitching. That gives them a great chance to go up 3-0 and get the “gentleman’s sweep” in game 5. If you’re more into playing it safe, then ​Houston Astros to win 4-2 (+300) ​is a safer play that also holds excellent value.

So there you have it. The Fall Classic is upon us, as baseball season is winding down to a close. Enjoy watching the Series, and good luck!

*Credit to the main photos of this article belongs to Sue Ogrocki (Astros) and Eric Gay (Nationals)/Associated Press