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Nationals vs. Phillies MLB Pick / Gambling Preview (Aug. 21)

Poolside rants weighs in with some picks for Saturday baseball action…MLB style. The Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies will both be trying to pick up a win tonight when they battle at Citizens Bank Park.

MLB Saturday Preview – Colorado vs L.A.

Before baseball gambling fans turn their attention to other sports betting events, we have the Saturday MLB game of the day pick for you. It’s time for our weekly baseball picks for online MLB betting action.

Season Record:
Washington: 52-70 SU
Philadelphia: 69-52 SU

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MLB Preview for August 21, 2010: Washington Nationals @ Philadelphia Phillies

The betting world was shocked to learn that Washington Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg is human after all. As the sports world slowly starts to turn to NCAA football betting and NFL football betting, the trials and tribulations of “the next great thing” have been lost in the headlines.

People keep forgetting that Strasburg is just a kid not used to the rigors of a 162-game MLB schedule, and the Nationals may have to live with the fact that they have rushed their pitching prospect into action way too soon.

The Philadelphia Phillies are trailing the Atlanta Braves by two and half games in the NL East, but the Phillies lead the San Francisco Giants by one game in the NL wild card standings. The Phillies are truly in control of their own destiny, and all they need to do to make the playoffs in one form or the other is to win.

The Nationals are becoming the home of the great prospects. First there was Strasburg on the mound, and now the buzz is about the power hitting catcher Derek Norris. Norris is said to have a big league bat, and he has the smarts to manage a game behind the plate. The only fear in the nation’s capitol is whether or not the Nationals will bring Norris up too soon just as they did Strasburg.

For some inexplicable reason, Strasburg will start this game on the mound instead of doing his time in AAA as he should. His MLB record is 5-3 and his ERA is 2.97, which is a testament to his talent. Considering what he has been through this season, to have a winning record and an ERA below 3.00 is amazing.

The Washington Nationals caved to fan pressure and put Strasburg in the team’s starting rotation way too early. College ball is different than the majors. The stadiums in the majors are bigger, the crowds are more unruly and the season is much longer. The perfect way to get a pitcher successfully from college to the majors is a year or two in the minors. Because of their bad decision-making, the Nationals now have to deal with the issue of the confidence of a young man and the beginnings of a career-long shoulder injury.

The MLB betting world put a lot of stock in the Phillies before the season started. With pitchers such as Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and the newly acquired Roy Oswalt in the starting rotation and Ryan Howard offering power at the plate, the Phillies are expected to make the playoffs. But Hamels has struggled this season, Oswalt just joined the team and Howard has been injured. The Phillies need to start making their push, and they need to make it now.

The Nationals will throw Stephen Strasburg on the mound against a team that needs to win and is capable of lighting up the scoreboard. The Phillies will put Kyle Kendrick on the mound with his 8-5 record and 4.45 ERA. Kendrick has the stuff to keep the Nationals at bay while the Phillies dig Strasburg’s hole even deeper.

Pick: Philadelphia Phillies 5-1

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Poolside Rants hails from beautiful Bozeman Montana by way of Toronto, Canada. (Blame his wife for the move). He’s a Dallas Cowboys football honk. But please….don’t hold that against him. The man knows his sports and has uncanny knowledge when it comes to picking games.

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Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"