NLDS Game 1: Cubs Start Defense of Title Against Natties

Great Pitching Expected in NLDS

The Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals kick off their 2017 NLDS Series on Friday when they battle at Nationals Park. This series screams great pitching. First pitch in Game 1 is set for 7:30 pm EST. TBS will broadcast the game nationally.

Both teams have pitchers well versed in Post-Season play. The Cubs are defending their 2016 World Series title. The National have won the NL East four times since 2012, but have not advanced out of the first round.

Oddsmakers opened the Nationals as -140-moneyline favorites versus the Cubs, while the game's total opened at 7.

Cubs Will Lean on Experience in NLDS

Right hander Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for the Cubs to start this game. Hendricks is 7-5 this season with a 3.03 ERA.

Hendricks is 2-2 with a 2.67 ERA in five starts against Washington in his career. will face Stephen Strasburg (15-4, 2.52), who is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in five career starts against the defending World Series champion Cubs.

The Cubs will start Jon Lester in Game 2, Jose Quintana in Game 3 and Arrieta in Game 4, if necessary.

Nationals Look at Regular Season Success Against Cubs

It'll be Stephen Strasburg toeing the rubber for the Nationals in this contest. Right hander Strasburg is 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA so far this season.

Strasburg is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in five career starts against the defending World Series champion Cubs.

Washington won two of three games at home against the Cubs from June 27-29.

Max Scherzer beat Jake Arrieta 6-1 on June 27. Strasburg beat John Lackey 8-4 the next day.

The Cubs salvaged the third game 5-4 in a battle of the bullpens. The loss went to Blake Treinen. Less than a month later was traded to the Oakland Athletics.

The Nationals also won two of three in Chicago from Aug. 4-6. Tanner Roark won the opener 4-2 over Hendricks.

Lackey got the win in Game 2. A7-4 over Edwin Jackson. The Nationals won the third game 9-4. Matt Wieters hit a late grand slam off Carl Edwards Jr.

 

Recent Form

Team	record	money	vs LHP	vs RHP	Fave	Dog	O/U	Diff
Chi Cubs	92-70	-$759.00	21-14	71-56	81-60	11-10	74-79-9	0.78
Washington	97-65	$799.00	22-15	75-50	81-47	16-18	69-82-11	0.91

Pitchers Last 3 Starts

K Hendricks (7-5) ERA: 3.03

event date	Opponent	Result	score	OU Result	ip	money
Sep 28, 2017	STL	W	2-1	U	5	$125.00
Sep 23, 2017	MIL	L	3-4	U	6	-$100.00
Sep 16, 2017	STL	W	4-1	U	7.2	$67.00

S Strasburg (15-4) ERA: 2.57

event date	Opponent	Result	score	OU Result	ip	money
Sep 29, 2017	PIT	W	6-1	U	7.2	$51.00
Sep 23, 2017	NYM	W	4-3	U	5	$54.00
Sep 17, 2017	LA	W	7-1	O	6	$60.00

Bullpen

Chi Cubs's relievers have pitched 14.1 innings in the last 3 games.
Washington's relievers have pitched 11.2 innings in the last 3 games.

Pitcher Recent Starts Vs Opponent

Chicago Cubs - K Hendricks

Date	score	Winner	ip	hits	Runs	Earned Runs	walks	strikeouts	Decision
Aug 4, 2017	4-2	WSH	7	5	3	3	2	5	Loss
Jun 13, 2016	4-1	WSH	5.1	6	4	3	4	4	Loss
May 5, 2016	5-2	CHC	6	2	0	0	2	4	Win
Jun 7, 2015	6-3	CHC	5	6	3	2	0	4	Win
May 26, 2015	3-2	CHC	7	4	1	1	2	4	No Decision

Washington Nationals - S Strasburg

Date	score	Winner	ip	hits	Runs	Earned Runs	walks	strikeouts	Decision
Jun 28, 2017	8-4	WSH	7	4	3	2	1	13	Win
Jun 15, 2016	5-4	WSH	7	6	1	1	1	8	No Decision
Aug 22, 2013	5-4	WSH	8.2	7	4	4	2	8	No Decision
May 11, 2013	8-2	CHC	5	5	4	0	2	7	Loss
Apr 5, 2012	2-1	WSH	7	5	1	1	1	5	No Decision

NLDS Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	5.07	4	4.15	6
Away Team Away Scoring vs Home Team Home Defense	4.77	10	4.26	10
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	5.06	5	4.29	7
Home Team Home Scoring vs Away Team Road Defense	5.20	6	4.02	5

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	away score	Home	home score	line	O/U	Away Pitcher	Home Pitcher	Away Hits	Home Hits	Away Walks	Home Walks	Away Strikeouts	Home Strikeouts
Aug 6, 2017	WSH	9	CHC	4	-192	9.5	O	Erick Fedde (R)	Jon Lester (L)	10	10	2	4	11	10
Aug 5, 2017	WSH	4	CHC	7	-162	11	P	Edwin Jackson (R)	John Lackey (R)	7	9	5	2	9	14
Aug 4, 2017	WSH	4	CHC	2	-159	9	U	Tanner Roark (R)	Kyle Hendricks (R)	7	6	3	4	7	7
Jun 29, 2017	CHC	5	WSH	4	-113	9.5	U	Jon Lester (L)	Joe Ross (R)	8	6	3	5	8	10
Jun 28, 2017	CHC	4	WSH	8	-178	8.5	O	John Lackey (R)	Stephen Strasburg (R)	6	11	2	3	15	6
Jun 27, 2017	CHC	1	WSH	6	-168	7.5	U	Jake Arrieta (R)	Max Scherzer (R)	2	9	1	7	7	6
Jun 26, 2017	CHC	5	WSH	4	-148	10	U	Eddie Butler (R)	Gio Gonzalez (L)	9	12	6	1	11	8
Jun 15, 2016	CHC	4	WSH	5	-147	7.5	O	Jason Hammel (R)	Stephen Strasburg (R)	11	9	3	4	11	10
Jun 14, 2016	CHC	4	WSH	3	115	8	U	John Lackey (R)	Gio Gonzalez (L)	7	5	5	3	12	10
Jun 13, 2016	CHC	1	WSH	4	-128	7.5	U	Kyle Hendricks (R)	Max Scherzer (R)	2	10	0	5	16	5

NLDS Betting Trends

Chicago Cubs
Chi Cubs is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
Chi Cubs is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Chi Cubs's last 15 games
Chi Cubs is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Chi Cubs is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Chi Cubs's last 8 games on the road
Chi Cubs is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Washington
Chi Cubs is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chi Cubs's last 7 games when playing on the road against Washington

Washington Nationals
Washington is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games
Washington is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 9 games
Washington is 4-10 ATS in its last 14 games at home
Washington is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Chi Cubs
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Chi Cubs
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 7 games when playing at home against Chi Cubs

Team Vs Division Or Conference

Chicago Cubs

	record	Home	Away	Fave	Dog	O/U	vs LHP	vs RHP
Overall	92-70	48-33	44-37	81-58	11-12	74-79-9	21-14	71-56
Last 10	7-3	2-1	5-2	4-3	3-0	4-6	0-1	7-2
vs Div	46-30	22-15	24-15	40-28	6-2	37-37-2	4-3	42-27
vs AL	12-8	5-5	7-3	10-6	2-2	11-7-2	4-4	8-4
vs NL	80-62	43-28	37-34	71-52	9-10	63-72-7	17-10	63-52

Washington Nationals

	record	Home	Away	Fave	Dog	O/U	vs LHP	vs RHP
Overall	97-65	47-34	50-31	81-46	17-19	69-82-11	22-15	75-50
Last 10	5-5	2-2	3-3	4-4	1-1	3-6-1	0-1	5-4
vs Div	47-29	24-15	23-14	42-24	6-5	38-34-4	10-4	37-25
vs AL	10-10	5-5	5-5	7-6	3-4	8-12	3-2	7-8
vs NL	87-55	42-29	45-26	74-40	14-15	61-70-11	19-13	68-42

Team Last 5 Games

Chicago Cubs

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	starter	ip	opposing starter	Location
Oct 1, 2017	CIN	1-3	L	-182	9	Mike Montgomery	3	Deck McGuire	H
Sep 30, 2017	CIN	9-0	W	-205	8	J Lester	5	Jackson Stephens	H
Sep 29, 2017	CIN	5-4	W	-171	7	J Quintana	4.2	Robert Stephenson	H
Sep 28, 2017	STL	2-1	W	125	8	K Hendricks	5	L Lynn	A
Sep 27, 2017	STL	5-1	W	104	8	J Lackey	6	M Wacha	A

Washington Nationals

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	starter	ip	opposing starter	Location
Oct 1, 2017	PIT	8-11	L	-192	8.5	G Gonzalez	4.1	Steven Brault	H
Sep 30, 2017	PIT	1-4	L	-270	7	M Scherzer	3.1	Jameson Taillon	H
Sep 29, 2017	PIT	6-1	W	-195	7.5	S Strasburg	7.2	G Cole	H
Sep 28, 2017	PIT	5-4	W	-117	9	E Jackson	6	I Nova	H
Sep 27, 2017	PHI	5-7	L	-144	9	T Roark	4.2	Mark Leiter Jr.	A

Weather in
Washington - United States

 81°F

Very cloudy
Humidity is 56%
Wind is South 2 mph
Visibility is 10.004077 mi
Pressure is N/A inHg

Forecast for Washington

 

Next up:
Chicago at Washington Saturday, October 7

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