Washington at St. Louis

St. Louis has opened up an 8 1/2 game lead in the NL Central after winning its fourth in a row and the Cardinals are 45-22 at home following Sunday's 2-0 victory over the Cubs. Albert Pujols hit a pinch two-run homer in the eighth and Chicago was held to two hits by Miles Mikolas. The Cardinals have allowed only seven runs their past four games, including two shutouts and Jack Flaherty will make his first appearance since June after being out with shoulder soreness. Anibal Sanchez is 1-5 with a 5.05 ERA for Washington although he has pitched better lately. In one appearance against St. Louis this year Sanchez allowed six runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The Nationals have the worst record in the major leagues and are 18-42 following a win. The UNDER is 7-1-2 the past 10 meetings at St. Louis and the Nationals have gone UNDER six of their past seven versus right-handed starters. Also, Washington is 8-3 UNDER its last 11 versus teams with winning records. Take the Cardinals as a Max Play and the UNDER.