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Nationals vs. Pirates Prediction and Odds for Thursday, April 14 (Take Advantage of Pitt's Bats While They're Hot)

By Matt De Saro

Pittsburgh Pirates v St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Pirates v St. Louis Cardinals / Dilip Vishwanat/GettyImages
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The Washinton Nationals head to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates Thursday afternoon after having a rough start to the season. The Nats lost their first three games in a row to the New York Mets and were outscored 17-4. They were able to win the last game of that four-game series along with Game 1 of their series with the Braves.

Things get easier on Thursday with the Pirates. Or at least one would assume. But, the Pirates are looking very un-pirate-like lately and have the fifth-best batting average in MLB. It’s early, but this is a good sign for the Pirates who were expected to barely compete this year. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook.

Nationals vs. Pirates Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

  • Nationals: -1.5 
  • Pirates: +1.5 

Moneyline:

  • Nationals: +107
  • Pirates: -117

Total:

  • Total (Over -110/Under -110)

Nationals vs. Pirates Prediction and Pick

I admit that I have been a bit harsh on the Pirates to start the year. And they have already burned me once by taking a win from the Cardinals in their opening series. They are still going to be a bad team, and probably finish fifth in the NL Central, but I do see some sparks here. That, I was not expecting.

Joan Adon gets the start for the Nationals with JT Brubaker toeing the rubber for the Pirates. Neither of these two guys is all that trustworthy and both had awful debuts. 

Adon went 4 ⅓ innings against the Mets, giving up four runs and four walks. It took him 86 pitches to get 22 out and he looked very winded by the end of his day. Brubaker was even worse, lasting just three innings against the Cardinals in a 9-0 shutout. He gave up four runs and three walks to end the day with a 12.00 ERA. 

I don’t expect either to find much success here or stick in the rotation long for their respective teams. I’m going to take advantage of the fact that the Pirates are locked in at the plate and will be taking the over for this 

Pick: OVER 

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE