1:05 p.m. Washington Nationals (75-71, L. Hernandez) at New York Mets (71-74, J. Seo) Best Line: NATS +135, METS -135 How things have changed. Two months ago, the Washington Nationals getting +135 with their supposed staff ace Livan Hernandez on the mound would’ve been an easy pounce.Now, with the Nats’ somewhat cooled off–but not out of contention for the wildcard–and facing the Mets’ surprisingly unhittable Jae Seo it doesn’t look as easy as it used to be. Livan’s been hammer turds his last few outings and not the All-Star he was in the first half.But he does have an ability to turn it on when motivated and today seems to be as good a time as any to win a pitcher’s duel with the mighty Seo.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Livan, He’s a Good Man

7:10 p.m. Washington Nationals (73-71, H. Carrasco) at New York Mets (71-72, T. Glavine) Best Line: METS -162, NATS +165 The New York Cockteasers (formerly known as the Mets) have been thisclose to stealing the New York thunder usually reserved for the Yankees all season long. They could still do it, provided they turn a deaf ear to their demons and bust their asses these final 19 games. And they catch two big breaks tonight against the Nationals, who are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets in the Wild Card race. First, the Nats had to scratch John Patterson as their starter because - listen to this - his sinus infection and bronchitis turned into a case of asthma. Instead Hector Carrasco takes the hill.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Banking on Glavine’s Brittle Old Bones

Washington Nationals (63-57, R. Drese) at Philadelphia Phillies (64-56, C.Lidle) Best Line: PHI -160, Washington +158 You want brotherly love? How about South Philly and South Jersey fans buying some 9,000 walk-up tickets at their last home game with their beloved Phillies suddenly winning 6 of 7 games and surprisingly atop the National League Wild Card race. Chalk it up to Bobby Abreu finally heating up after his (needless) 41-home run performance at the All Star Game slightly put a small tear in his off-his-ass muscle. There’s no doubt Philly can smell the aroma of old backs breaking down out at the Houston Astro Ranch and are looking to make this a race to the end. The pitching mound gets heavier tonight with meaningless mounds Cory Lidle opposing the Nats’ Ryan Drese.

Read More » Chopping Lines: There’s a Thunder Cloud in Philly and It’s Name is Not Cory Lidle

1:05 p.m. Washington Nationals (55-46, R. Drese) at Atlanta Braves (57-44, J. Sosa) Best Line: Atlanta Braves -172 Looking at the schedule in the beginning of the season who could have thought that the winner of this series would be in first place in the NL East? After last night’s 4-3 win against the pesky Nationals, Atlanta leads the NL East by a slim two game margin over Washington. The Nationals had a five and a half game lead in the NL East but have dropped eight consecutive one run games.

Read More » Chopping Lines: The Revenge of Chief Knock-A-Homa

Oakland Athletics, +8000: Sure they always fall apart in the playoffs, but their pitching is always solid, the Angels are starting to fall apart and the Yankees and Red Sox could always wear each other out. And MC Hammer was once their bat boy. Washington Nationals,+2000: Window may be closing, but stranger things have happened. Look at the Marlins two years ago for a prime example of a team from nowhere going all the way. With Hernandez hurt(but playing), it may be too late for the Nats, but still a solid investment at +2,000. However, all of this depends on how the Supreme Court nomination hearings play out.

Read More » MLB Betting: Three Teams to Look at For Future World Series Payouts

Remember all that value we were getting out of the surprising Washington Nationals this year? How we couldn’t figure out how a team so incredibly hot and seemingly unbeatable in one run games would hit the wall? Nationals, meet wall. Livan Hernandez(12-4, 3.42), the Nats all-star pitcher is 99 percent certain he’ll forego the rest of his stellar season to have surgery on his knee. It’s been a great run for D.C.’s scrappy squad of cast-offs and young bucks, but without solid run production and now their number one starter contemplating surgery, don’t be surprised if those great steals suddenly start to dry up. Today, the Nats are +120 against Houston with Esteban Loaiza going against the Astros’ lanky-yanker Roy Oswalt tonight.

Read More » Hope You Enjoyed the Nationals’ Party–Now Please Leave