We’ve got a National League East battle on our hands Saturday afternoon, with the Philidelphia Phillies looking to rebound from a tough loss on Friday in game two of their three-game set against the Washington Nationals. First pitch from Nationals Park in D.C. is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. Cristopher Sanchez (1-3, 3.39 ERA) will get the ball for the Phils, while Washington counters with righty Jake Irvin (3-5, 4.76).
The Phils currently sit a distant in second place in the division, but they remain 2.5 games above the rest of the pack for the top NL Wild Card spot despite a 5-5 record in their last 10 games. Washington has fallen back into dead last in the East, a full 10.5 games behind Philly and 24 back of the Braves.
Phillies-Nationals picks: Saturday, August 19th
Injury report
Phillies
Out: OF Brandon Marsh (bruised left knee), RP Jose Alvarado (left elbow inflammation), OF Cristian Pache (right elbow inflammation)
Nationals
Day-to-day: SP MacKenzie Gore (left middle finger injury)
Out: RP Mason Thompson (left knee contusion), RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (right shoulder inflammation)
Starting pitchers
Cristopher Sanchez vs. Jake Irvin
As the Phillies consider a move from a six-man to a five-man rotation, there’s a chance this could be Sanchez’s last true start of 2023. The lefty has been a huge boon to Philly’s staff, finally picking up his first win in his last time out despite a tidy 3.39 ERA. He has faced the Nats once this season, back in late June. In that start, he went six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits in a loss.
Irvin has thrown 90.2 innings this season and has an ERA of 4.76. He has never faced Philly as a starter and is coming into this game off the back of four straight no-decisions. He’s gotten into at least the fifth inning in all of those four showings, and has allowed more than three runs just twice since the start of June.
Over/Under pick
Last night’s game, an 8-7 Washington win, easily cruised past this number. However, only five of the 11 matchups between the two teams this season have eclipsed the 10-run mark. Last night’s game was the first time it had happened in the last four meetings, too, and with Sanchez throwing the ball as well as he has of late, I’m expecting a relatively low-scoring game on Saturday.
Pick: Under 9.5
Moneyline pick
The Phillies are clearly the better team on the whole this season, but in recent weeks that hasn’t been the case. The Nats have won seven of their last 10 games while Philly has only won five of their last 10. The season series between these two clubs is close, with the Phils holding a 6-5 advantage so far.
I think the deciding factor in this one will be starting pitching. Despite getting handed a loss the last time he faced them, Sánchez pitched really well against the Nats in June, so we’re rocking with him and banking on Philly’s bats doing enough to grab a win.
Pick: Phillies
