Washington at Chicago Cubs NLDS Game 4 Odds & Preview

Washington at Chicago Cubs NLDS Game 4 Odds & Preview

Written by on October 10, 2017

The Chicago Cubs have the Washington Nationals on the brink of elimination after a 2-1 win over Washington on Monday afternoon. The two teams go right back out there on Tuesday afternoon to determine whether the Nationals continue a franchise trend of postseason futility — the Nationals have never won a postseason series — or the series heads back to Washington tied up at two games apiece. The Cubs have all the momentum now with an eighth-inning rally that gave them the lead in Game Three. Can they take advantage? Check out our MLB odds for NLDS Game 4 before you lock in your wagers.

Washington at Chicago Cubs NLDS Game 4 Odds & Preview

When: Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 5:38pm ET Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago TV: TBS Radio: ESPN Radio Live Stream: MLB.tv MLB Odds: Cubs -160 Pitching Matchup: Tanner Roark (13-11, 4.67 ERA) (WAS) vs Jake Arrieta (14-10, 3.53 ERA) (CHI)

Weather Forecast

  • Chance of Rain: 17°C/63°F
  • Humidity: 65%
  • Precipitation: 55%
  • Wind: 15 mph NE
  • Cloud Cover: 93%
  • Type of Stadium: Open

Why should you bet on the Nationals?

Tanner Roark spent much of the first half of the 2017 season struggling, posting a 5.27 ERA before the All-Star break. Since then, though, his ERA has been much better (3.90). This will be his second postseason start; last year he went 4 ⅓ innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, permitting a pair of runs on three walks and seven hits. The Nationals will face Jake Arrieta to start the game. Despite the fact that Arrieta has a Cy Young trophy in his case at home, some of the Nationals have hit him well. Anthony Rendon (.364, 1 RBI), Howie Kendrick (.333, 1 RBI), Michael Taylor (.500) and Brian Goodwin (.500) have all seen pitches to hit against Arrieta. Jayson Werth only has one hit against Arrieta in seven at-bats, but that hit was a home run. If you like the Nationals in this one, then you think that Roark can hold the Cubs’ lineup at bay while the Nationals’ hitters break through against Arrieta, who did have his start pushed back to Game Four because of ongoing hamstring issues, which could affect his durability as the game wears on.

Why should you put your money on the Cubs?

Arrieta hurt his hamstring back on September 4. Before he went down to injury, though, he had put up a 7-2 record in July and August, with a combined 1.79 ERA. If he can bring that stuff against the Nationals, the Cubs have an excellent shot of moving on to the National LEague Championship Series. Four of the Nationals’ regular hitters have career averages of .222 or less against Arrieta, so he has had some success pitching against them in the past. Are the Cubs a safe pick in NLDS Game 4? Several of the Chicago hitters will be glad to see Roark on the mound tomorrow. Kyle Schwarber (.500), Jon Jay (.400), Javier Baez (.333, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and Kris Bryant (.455, 1 HR, 1 RBI) have all hit him well historically. It’s also hard to understate the importance of the tangibles of this game for the Nationals. They watched Max Scherzer, one of their two best pitchers, throw one of the best games in his career, only to see the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo break a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning with a clutch single into shallow left-center. Scherzer had taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning — much like Stephen Strasburg took one into the sixth in Game Two — but for the second straight game, the Cubs exploited that bullpen, which had been a weakness for Washington for most of the season. The Nationals have to be gun-shy going into Game Four.

Latest Betting Trends for NLDS Game 4

  • Washington is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
  • Washington is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
  • The total went UNDER in 4 of Washington’s last 6 games
  • Chicago is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games
  • Chicago is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games
  • The total went UNDER in 12 of Chi Cubs’s last 18 games

Expert NLDS Game 4 Pick and Final Score Prediction

History can be a huge force in team sports, as teams struggle to escape the shadow of the performances of their past. The Washington Nationals seem to be caught in that very sort of shadow right now, as they have seen two brilliant starting pitching performances thrown in the trash can by failure to execute in the bullpen. I see the Cubs finishing off the Nationals on Tuesday afternoon by a score of 3-1 in NLDS Game 4.