Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Betting Tips 9/22/2024

Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Preview

From Wrigley Field in Chicago, we have the Nationals and Cubs facing off in an NL matchup. First pitch for Sunday’s matchup is set for 2:20 PM ET. MARQ is carrying the Cubs on TV, and they are the heavy money line favorites at -197. The Nationals are +167 on the money line, and the over/under line is sitting at 7.5 runs.

Washington is 69-86 this season, while the Cubs are above .500 at 79-76. Shota Imanaga will start for the Cubs, and he is facing off against Jake Irvin for the Nationals. In the NL East, the Nationals are in 4th place, while the Cubs are 2nd in the NL Central.

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Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals Trends and Key Stats

• 1-4 is the record of Nationals in their last five road games. They have also gone 2-3 vs. the runline.
• On the other side, the Cubs have gone 2-3 (SU) and 2-3 in their previous five home contests.
• In their last ten games as the favorite, the Cubs have a record of 5-5 straight-up, and have gone 4-6 against the runline.
• When playing as the underdog, the Nationals have won 3-7 of their previous ten games straight-up, while going 5-5 against the runline.

Washington cruised to a 5-1 win over the Cubs in the most recent game of this series. The Nationals had a huge 6th inning, scoring four of their five runs. As for the Cubs, they scored their only run in the 7th. Heading into the game, the Nationals were at +117 on the money line.

MacKenzie Gore pitched well for the Nationals in this one, going seven innings and giving up just one run. He finished the game with nine strikeouts but issued three walks. Kyle Hendricks had a rough outing for the Cubs, giving up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Joey Gallo and Juan Yepez each homered for the Nationals, while Jose Tena went 3/4 with an RBI. Ildemaro Vargas and Luis Garcia Jr. each had two hits and an RBI.

Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Prediction

Washington is on the road today, taking on the Cubs, and they are 69-86 overall, putting them 4th in the NL East. The Nationals trail the Phillies by 23 games in the division and are 8.0 games behind the Braves for 3rd place in the NL East. So far, they have gone 23-26 in divisional games.

This season, the Nationals have been slightly better at home, going 36-39 compared to 33-47 on the road. As the underdog, Washington is 54-73 this season, and they are 15-13 as the favorite. Washington’s overall series record is 19-24-6, and they are 1-2 in this series vs. the Cubs.

Washington has been a good team to bet on the run line this season, with an 86-69 record. They are 40-35 at home and 46-34 on the road. As the underdog, they are 73-54, but as the favorite, they are only 13-15. Their average run differential is -0.6, but in their wins, they are +3.3 and in their losses, they are -3.8.

The Washington Nationals are on the road tonight against the Chicago Cubs. The over/under line for the game is set at 7.5 runs. The Nationals have had an over/under record of 73-76 this season, and their games have had an average combined run average of 8.9 runs. When the over/under line has been set at 7.5 runs, their record is 17-10. Overall, 80.6% of their games have had over/under lines set higher than 7.5 runs, and their games have had an average over/under line of 9 runs.

Washington is sending right-hander Jake Irvin to the mound today vs. the Cubs. He has made 31 starts this season and has a record of 10-12 with a 4.07 ERA. Out of his 31 starts, Irvin has turned in 16 quality starts and is averaging 7.53 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, Irvin went 7 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits. He finished with a no-decision in that outing. Before that, he had lost three straight starts. One of those losses came vs. the Cubs, where he gave up six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Washington’s offense has been one of the worst in the league this season, averaging just 4.1 runs per game, which is 24th in the MLB. They have also been one of the worst power-hitting teams in the league, as their 130 home runs is 26th in the league. However, they do come into the game with the 11th best team batting average in the league at .243.

CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. come into the game as the Nationals’ top two home run hitters, and they are also the top two hitters in terms of RBIs. Abrams is hitting .246 for the season and has gone 7/14 in his last four games. Joey Gallo has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 4/13 with two homers and six RBIs in his last four games.

Chicago is 79-76 overall and trails the Brewers by nine games in the NL Central. The Cubs are 21-28 against other teams in the division. The Cubs have gone 4-6 across their last 10 games and have dropped two straight series.

At home, the Cubs are 41-36 this season compared to a 38-40 mark on the road. So far, they have been the favorite in 80 of their games, going 42-38 in those matchups. As for their games as the underdog, the Cubs are 37-38 this season.

The Cubs are a team that has been very good at covering the run line when playing on the road this season, going 46-32. They have a run line record of 75-80 overall, but they have been especially good at covering the run line when they are the underdog, going 49-26. Their average run margin in winning games is 3.8 runs per game, while their average run margin in losing games is -3.1 runs per game.

The Cubs have seen 70.3% of their games this season with higher over/under lines than today’s 7.5, and their games have averaged 8.7 runs per game. They have a 73-77 over/under record on the season, and their games have had an average line of 8 runs. Their games have gone over the 7.5 line 18 times and under 16 times when the line has been set at 7.5. Their games have gone under in their last two contests.

Shota Imanaga gets the start for the Cubs today and is coming off a strong outing vs. the Athletics. In that September 16th start, he went 6 innings, giving up 2 earned runs, and picking up the win. Looking back further, Imanaga has won his last three starts and has a record of 14-3 this season. Imanaga’s ERA is 3.03, and he has made 18 quality starts this year. Per nine innings, he is averaging 9.2 strikeouts compared to just 1.52 walks. For the season, Imanaga has given up 27 homers. At home, his ERA is 3.83 compared to 3.4 on the road.

For the season, the Cubs are averaging 4.6 runs per game, which is 13th in the league. At home, they are averaging 4 runs per contest, which is 23rd in the league. Chicago comes into the game with a team batting average of .243, which is 11th in the MLB, and they have the 15th ranked slugging percentage in the league.

Over his last six games, Ian Happ has gone 7/26 with two homers and three RBIs. For the season, he leads the Cubs with 85 RBIs and has 25 homers. Seiya Suzuki is 2nd on the team in homers (21) and is batting .279 for the season.

We do see the Cubs picking up a win in this one, and with the money line payout being -197, there isn’t a lot of value there. Instead, we will be looking to the over/under line, and we are predicting this one to finish with a 5-4 win for the Cubs.

With the line sitting at 7.5 runs, we see this as a great spot to take the over, and at -112, there is a good amount of value in this line. Looking at the starting pitchers, our projections have Shota Imanaga finishing with six strikeouts, and for the Nationals’ Jake Irvin, we have him finishing with five.

Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Betting Tips

• Take the Cubs on the moneyline
• On the run line we like the Nationals (+1.5)
• Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over

Chicago Cubs Injury Report

Washington Nationals Injury Report