MLB National League Championship: Washington Nationals v St Louis Cardinals

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 1.08am Friday night

Best bet

Washington to win the National League Championship Series
1pt 10-11 general

Analysis

Washington Nationals threw the MLB National League playoffs wide open when they knocked out season-long favourites LA Dodgers on Wednesday, and now they face the St Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven Championship Series.

The Nationals have been staring down the barrel a couple of times in the post-season but showed great survival skills. They entered the eighth inning of the wildcard game two runs down before scoring three to win, and things were even more precarious in the deciding game five against the Dodgers, when they came from 3-0 down to win 7-3 in the tenth.

The men from the Capital City have been bucking the recent trend in knockout baseball. Instead of relying on their bullpen strength - they had the MLB's second-highest bullpen Earned Run Average during the regular season - they have been relying on their starting pitching, especially men on a mission Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasbourg. Both have ERAs under three in the post-season and have both pitched relief to help the team get through.

Bookmakers can barely separate them from St Louis, who had a nip-and-tuck series with Atlanta before a comfortable 13-1 win in the decider.

The Cardinals have got better as the season has gone on and went 51-30 in the second half of the season.

There is not a huge amount between the teams, but the Nationals have a superstar in Scherzer and they are worth a small bet to make it to the World Series.

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