Astros vs Nationals: The Best MLB Bet to Make For Tuesday Night

The Astros/Nationals game on July 7 looks primed to sail over the total of 9 runs. The pitching matchup heavily favors scoring. Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai enters with a bloated 6.14 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. While he flashed dominance with a 6-inning shutout and 10 strikeouts against Detroit, his most recent outing was a disaster — just 1.1 innings and 5 runs allowed versus Minnesota. Inconsistency like that against a capable Astros lineup is a recipe for runs.

On the other side, Nationals lefty Andrew Alvarez has posted a solid 3.05 ERA, but he’s typically a short-stint pitcher (often around 4 innings). That projects an early handoff to Washington’s bullpen, which has been one of the worst units in baseball this season with a collective ERA hovering around 5.25. Leaky late-inning arms in a tight game at Nationals Park (a slightly hitter-friendly venue with run factors above league average) should inflate the scoring.

The series context adds fuel. Monday night’s opener was a 12-11 slugfest won by the Nationals on James Wood’s grand slam after the Astros built an early lead. Houston will be motivated for revenge and figures to come out swinging aggressively with stars like Yordan Alvarez (.318 AVG, elite power) and supporting bats in Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes. The Nationals’ offense has also been potent, regularly putting up crooked numbers.

With both starters unlikely to dominate deep into the game and the Nats’ relief corps prone to meltdown, expect the offenses to keep the scoreboard busy. The combination of shaky starting pitching, a weak Washington bullpen, revenge factor, and recent high-scoring trend points strongly toward the over clearing 9 runs. I’ll meet you at the cash counter when this over hits by the 7th inning stretch.