Washington Nationals vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, 8/29/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Nationals vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Saturday, August 29, 2020

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/MAS2

Odds/Point Spread: Nationals (-101) Red Sox (-109)

Xander Bogaerts and the Boston Red Sox (10-21, 5th in AL East) host the Washington Nationals (11-17, 5th in NL East) at Fenway Park on Saturday. The moneyline on this matchup has the Nationals priced at -101 and the Red Sox are at -109. The total opens at 12. The pitchers taking the mound will be Anibal Sanchez and Martin Perez.

Key Washington Nationals Injuries

8/24/2020 Seth Romero RP Hand Out for the season
8/22/2020 Stephen Strasburg SP Hand Out for the season
8/18/2020 Starlin Castro 2B Wrist Out for the season
8/18/2020 Sam Freeman RP Elbow Out for the season
8/13/2020 Roenis Elias RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
6/29/2020 Adrian Sanchez 3B Achilles Out for the season

Key Boston Red Sox Injuries

8/28/2020 Nathan Eovaldi SP Calf Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
8/25/2020 Andrew Benintendi LF Ribs Expected to be out until at least Sep 5
8/1/2020 Eduardo Rodriguez SP Illness Out for the season
7/7/2020 Dustin Pedroia 2B Knee Expected to be out until at least Sep 1
6/28/2020 Chris Sale SP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Nationals have a 11-17 overall record this season. Sanchez has taken the hill for 1,920 frames and has totaled 1,702 K's during his MLB career. His ERA is 4.01 (856 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.309. He has surrendered 1,869 hits (8.8 hits per nine innings) and has 644 walks. Sanchez (109-111 win-loss record in his career) has earned a FIP of 4.01 and he has faced 8,187 opposing hitters in the majors. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.39 and they have given up 105 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .221 against the bullpen and they've struck out 111 hitters and walked 50 batters. As a team, Washington allows 9.9 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.6 batters per nine innings. They are 21st in the league in team earned run average at 4.97. The Nationals pitchers collectively have given up 265 base hits and 133 earned runs. They have allowed 40 home runs this season, ranking them 12th in the league. Washington as a pitching staff has walked 96 batters and struck out 231. They have walked 3.6 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.6 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.50 and their FIP as a unit is 4.70.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Washington is hitting .261, good for 4th in the league. The Nationals hold a .433 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .328, which is good for 10th in baseball. They rank 8th in MLB with 8.6 hits per game. Trea Turner is hitting .309 with an on-base percentage of .379. He has 34 hits this season in 110 at bats with 14 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .564 and an OPS+ of 148. Victor Robles is hitting .222 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .309. He has totaled 18 hits and he has driven in 11 men in 81 at bats. His OPS+ is 72 while his slugging percentage is at .333. The Nationals have 241 hits, including 44 doubles and 35 home runs. Washington has walked 83 times so far this season and they have struck out 208 times as a unit. They have left 180 men on base and have a team OPS of .761. They score 4.68 runs per contest and have scored a total of 131 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Boston has a 10-21 overall mark this year. Thus far in his career, Perez has surrendered 1,062 hits and he has 620 strikeouts in 958 innings pitched. He has conceded a total of 498 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.476 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.5. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.76 and he has gone up against 4,180 hitters during his pro baseball career. Perez (55-59 career win-loss record) has a 4.68 ERA and has allowed 10.0 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.73 and they have given up 160 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .242 against the Red Sox bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 161 batters and walked 64 opposing hitters. As a team, Boston allows 10.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings. They are 30th in the league in team earned run average at 6.05. The Red Sox pitchers as a team have surrendered 304 base knocks and 181 earned runs this season. They have given up 52 home runs this year, which ranks 2nd in Major League Baseball. Boston as a staff has walked 130 hitters and struck out 266 batters. They give up a walk 4.3 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.9 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.61 while their FIP as a staff is 5.30.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .251, good for 10th in the league. The Red Sox hold a .422 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .318, which is good for 21st in baseball. They rank 6th in MLB with 8.6 hits per contest. Xander Bogaerts comes into this matchup batting .276 with an OBP of .342. He has 29 hits this year along with 17 RBI in 105 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .505 with an OPS+ of 123. J.D. Martinez is hitting .213 this season and he has an OBP of .306. He has collected 23 hits in 108 at bats while driving in 15 runs. He has an OPS+ of 83 and a slugging percentage of .380. The Red Sox as a unit have 268 base hits, including 61 doubles and 37 homers. Boston has walked 94 times this year and they have struck out on 275 occasions. They have had 205 men left on base and have an OPS of .740. They have scored 4.61 runs per game and totaled 143 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Nationals/Red Sox MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Red Sox (-109)

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