It will be a short bus ride for the Washington Nationals as they begin inter-league play against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. The Nationals will pin their hopes in Game-1 on the pitching of ace right hander Shawn Hill in this game. Hill has a 0-0 record and a 3.56 ERA this season. The Orioles will counter Hill with left hand pitcher Garrett Olson. Olson has a 2.95 ERA to go along with a 2-0 record this season.
Oddsmakers at sports wagering giant Bodoglife.com currently have the Orioles listed as 130-moneyline favorites versus the Nationals, while the game's total is sitting at 8½.
Sunday's loss against the Marlins spoiled a great outing from Hill, who pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out three batters and walked none. Hill was pleased with the outing and felt he had a lot of good action on his pitches.
Olson has taken Adam Loewen's rotation slot — vacated by an injury — by storm, pitching into at least the sixth inning in all three of his starts. The southpaw, who finished third in the International League in ERA last season, has temporarily managed to shake the command problems that plagued him in his first big league audition.
The Nationals defeated the Mets 1-0 in the series finale on Thursday to claim the four-game set. The Nationals won the game as +160 underdogs, and team's played UNDER the posted over/under (9.5).
Felipe Lopez' sacrifice fly drove in the only run and Aaron Boone had two hits for the Nationals. Jason Bergmann tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits in the victory.
Jay Payton belted a grand slam to lift the Orioles to a 6-3 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday as +115 underdogs. The nine runs went as a PUSH against the posted over/under (9).
Payton finished with five RBIs to lead the Orioles. Daniel Cabrera improved to 4-1 with the win, allowing three runs off 10 hits over seven innings.
Point-Spreads.com MLB Picks: Orioles ML -130
