Washington at Houston

Yes, Washington has lost four in a row. And, they can't score (averaging 3.9 runs per game). So, you have to ask yourself whether the Nats can score here. Facing the hapless Jason Jennings, we think they can. We love getting a dog here with this kind of pitching matchup. Tim Redding goes for the Nats and he's been great in his eight appearances, posting a 2.88 ERA. Jennings is 2-8 on the year with a 6.16 ERA. At home, his ERA is worse (6.40) and over his last three starts, it's up at 6.75. Washington has the better bullpen, too. The Nationals, 55-69 overall on the season, win their games against bad teams like Houston. The Nats are 30-24 this season vs. losing teams including 11-5 in their last sixteen! In those sixteen games, they faced a really bad opponent nine times (teams that have been outscored by their opponents by 0.5+ runs per game). Washington is 8-1 in those games. Back to Jennings - Houston is 3-14 this season with him as the starter including 1-9 at home and 0-7 as a favorite.