Washington Nationals - Pittsburgh Pirates

The day after winning the NL East Championship in Game 2 vs. the Pirates, Washington will play their final road game of the regular season in the finale of the 3-game series with Pittsburgh at PNC Park.  A.J. Cole will be the starter for the Nationals on Sunday. Cole has made 6 starts already in place of the injured Stephen Strasburg, with mixed results. He posted a 4.68 ERA because has allowed 8+ home runs per 9 innings, which is high.  Since, they won the division title Saturday night, I am expecting the Nationals to go with a lineup consisting mostly of their backups and not putting much emphasis on the upcoming Game 3.  The Pirates will send pitcher Tyler Glasnow [the club's top prospect and MLB Pipeline's Pitcher of the Year] to the mound. Even though the division is won, the Washington Nationals are still battling to remain the No. 2 seed in the NL. They will play the winner of the NL West in the NL Division Series, which seems almost certain to be the L.A. Dodgers.  Washington currently leads L.A. with a 1 1/2-game for home-field advantage. However, The Pirates have won 7 of their last 10 meetings against the Nationals at PNC Park, thus, I am expecting them to do well on Sunday.  With that said, I pick the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates with the spread of (+1.5) Runs.

UPDATE September 26, 2016 - FINAL Result: Washington Nationals 10-7 Pittsburgh Pirates.  The final Game 3 of the series between Washington and Pittsburgh finished in a frenzy: The Pirates pushed hard to win it, but the Nats very surprisingly, pushed back with a 5-run 8 inning, pulling out a 10-7 victory to make sure "Vegas cleans up" in this game...As I said above, most people expected the Nationals to lose this game, after putting a lineup, consisting mostly of their reserves; and when everyone expected just that, the Nats very surprisingly exploded in the 8th inning [the score was 5-7 Pirates], and turned this game around for good, despite a starting lineup that featured just 3 of their everyday players(?!). "Vegas, Vegas...Vegas": another Big Win for the Sportsbook Bookies...Both teams combined to use 17 pitchers in this wild game. In order to confirm to us that the game was "fair and square", tensions between the 2 teams began in the top of the 3rd inning, when Kang faked a tag on an errant throw that forced Harper to slide awkwardly into the base on a triple.  Then, when Kang came to bat with 2 outs in the bottom of the 3rd, Cole threw behind Kang's head, resulting in an immediate ejection and causing both benches and bullpens to clear...With this strange win [and a record of 91-64], the Nats kept their 1 1/2 game lead over the LA. Dodgers, who also won their game vs. Colorado Rockies 4-3.