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The Nationals are trying to stay alive in the NL wild-card race while the Diamondbacks are fading, heading into the opener of a three-game series in Arizona Friday night. Which way are we going here for our free MLB pick?
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MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Friday's MLB betting odds opened Arizona at around -150 over Washington, with an over/under of 9.5 runs. Early betting action then dipped that line down to -145.
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<h2>
Nationals vs. Diamondbacks Set-Up<br />
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Washington just dropped two of three games at Atlanta this week, losing Wednesday's series rubber match 5-4. The Nationals then had Thursday off.
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Just before that Washington lost two of three to the Dodgers. So the Nationals are 2-5 over their last seven games.
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At 57-51 overall Washington trails the division-leading Braves by seven games in the NL East, but it's also tied with the Cubs and Phillies for the lead in the National League wild-card standings.
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Arizona, meanwhile, just split two games with the Yankees in New York, losing Wednesday's series finale 7-5. The Diamondbacks also then had Thursday off.
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Just before that, Arizona lost three of four games at Miami giving the Diamondbacks 2-4 record over their six.
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At 54-55 overall Arizona trails the division-leading Dodgers by 17 games in the NL West, and it's 3.5 games back in that NL wild-card race.
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This series is the second meeting between these teams this season; they split four games in DC back in June.
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<h2>
Friday's Starting Arms<br />
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<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/57270&quot; title="Robbie Rays Pitching Logs">Lefty Ray</a>, by our stringent standards, is only 6/23 on quality starts this season and one for his last three. Last Sunday he held the Marlins to two earned runs and seven hits through six innings, although the Diamondbacks lost that game 5-1. And over his last three starts, he's allowed nine ER and 21 hits, including seven homers, through 18 innings.
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Arizona is 12-11 with Ray this season, 4-1 over his last five starts.
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In his only start this season against the Nationals Ray gave up five runs, and two home runs through six frames of a 7-3 D'Backs defeat.
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<a href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/69578&quot; title="Joe Ross Pitchig Logs">Ross</a> is 0/1 on quality starts this year, to go along with 18 appearances in relief. Last Saturday he got knocked around for seven runs – six earned – and nine hits through 4 2/3 innings of relief work against the Dodgers. And in his two appearances since returning from a stint in the Minors, he's allowed nine ER and 17 hits through 10 total innings.
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This start will be Ross' first against Arizona since 2016, and that's a long time ago.
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Friday's Batting Splits<br />
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Washington is batting .278/.355/.468 against left-handed pitching this season. Numbers like those help this unit rank among the top five in the Majors in this split.
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Arizona is batting .249/.321/.424 against right-handed pitching this season.
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<h2>
The Bullpens<br />
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The Nationals bullpen owns an ML-worst 5.90 ERA this season and an ML-worst 1.53 WHIP while allowing an .805 OPS. Numbers like those "help" this unit rank as the worst bullpen in Baseball. Washington tried to address the situation by bringing in three new arms at the recent trade deadline, but it remains uncertain whether those guys will help.
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The Diamondbacks pen owns a 4.51 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP while allowing a .743 OPS.
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<h2>
Totals Report<br />
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Unders are 53-49 in Nationals games this season.
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Overs are 53-50 in Diamondbacks games this season.
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Unders are 24-20 in games played at Chase Field this season.
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Overs are 3-1 in Nats-D'Backs games this season.
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<p><section></p>
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<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1081518">Nationals at Diamondbacks MLB Match-up Stats</a> </span>
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