Pittsburgh Pirates (18-8) vs. Washington Nationals (9-15)
April 29, 2023 1:05 pm EDT
The Line: Game 1: Washington Nationals +100 / Pittsburgh Pirates -120; Over/Under: 9.5 --- Game 2: Washington Nationals +120 / Pittsburgh Pirates -140; Over/Under: 8.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals meet Saturday in MLB doubleheader action from Nationals Park. These will be the first and second installments in a three-game weekend series. The originally-scheduled Friday opener was rained out and pushed back. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates played the Dodgers this week, losing Tuesday before bagging wins in the next pair. In the Thursday finale Pittsburgh scored three runs in both the first and sixth innings on the way to a 6-2 victory.
Rich HIll will start the Saturday opener for the Pirates. Hill is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA this year. Starter for game two will be Pittsburgh’s Vince Velasquez. Over five starts this year Velasquez is 3-2 with a 3.76 ERA and 27 Ks in 26.1 innings of work.
Washington Nationals
Over on the Nationals’ side, they played the Mets this week. Washington won the first two games in that set before a Thursday loss. In the finale the Nationals came back from a 7-3 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning but couldn’t finish it off.
It’ll be Patrick Corbin for the first start on Saturday for the Nationals. In his five starts so far Corbin is 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 26.0 innings. Chad Kuhl will take game two. Kuhl is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA and 14 strikeouts.
The Pirates are 4-1 in their last five in game two of a series and 68-143 in their last 211 road games. Pittsburgh is 3-11 in their last 14 Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Nationals are 16-39 in their last 55 Saturday games and 5-12 in their last 17 in game two of a series. Washington is 14-38 in their last 52 at home.
ANDREW’S GAME 1 FREE PICK
I’ll stay with the Pirates in game one. Hill is rolling right now with just one earned on 12 hits and five walks over his last 11.0 innings. Hill went 2-0 in that pair. Corbin hasn’t been too bad lately himself, with five earned on 12 hits and two walks over his last 12.0 innings. Corbin is 0-1 in those two; he’ll probably need some help from the offense in this one.
ANDREW’S GAME 2 FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with the Pirates here as well. Velasquez is on a nice roll over his last three games. In 19.0 combined innings during that time, Velasquez is 3-0 with three earned on 10 hits and seven walks alongside 23 strikeouts. As for Kuhl, he’s coming off 3.2 innings with one earned on four walks and three hits in Minnesota. Prior to that Kuhl had 10 earned across 9.2 innings. Pittsburgh should have some solid chances in game two.
