Houston Astros vs Washington Nationals

This is the rubber game of the series as Houston won 5-3 on Friday before losing 5-4 in 10 innings yesterday. Joey Meneses hit a walk-off RBI single after the Astros blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Cristian Javier was supposed to start for the Astros, but he was scratched due to neck discomfort and Hunter Brown will go instead. Brown has recovered from two terrible outings and threw a quality start against Atlanta on Tuesday allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. Mitchell Parker made his first start for Washington and gave up two runs in five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. Houston is 28-14 on the road following a loss the past two seasons ans 13-2 in Sunday road games. The Nationals have lost five of nine. Play the Astros as a Max Play.

Washington is a big dog but a respectable 14-19 on the road. Starter MacKenzie Gore has a 3.92 ERA on the road where he's holding batters to a .228 average. Christian Javier (7-1) starts for Houston and the Nationals have won five of the last seven interleague games versus a righty starter. They're also 11-5 against a starting pitcher who walks 1.75 or fewer batters, and are 5-0 versus starters with a winning percentage of .800 or better. Houston is on a 4-6 run losing losing three of those as chalk. They're 29-25 against teams with a bullpen ERA of 4.70+ and Washington has won 12 of their last 15 in this park. Play Washington. 

Washington was overachieving earlier in the season, but now the Nationals are showing their true colors as a bad team and they have lost seven of eight following Tuesday's 6-1 loss to the Astros, who hit four solo homers and Washington managed only six hits. The Nationals are averaging only 3.13 runs their past eight games and tonight they face Framber Valdez, who is 6-5 with a 2.36 ERA and 1.06 WHIP and he has allowed a total of just four runs his past four starts in 27 innings and Houston has won five of his past six starts. The Nationals are 13-38 their past 51 road games versus left-handed starters and the Astros have won 79 of 116 home games dating to last season. Washington has lost 44 of 65 road games against teams with winning records overall and 22 of 29 interleague games against winning teams. Make it a Max Play on the Astros.