Those that did any baseball betting on the Washington Nationals last week got rewarded when the league’s worst team actually beat the New York Yankees twice in a three-game series. The Nats also beat the Blue Jays in their three game set and will now try to knock off another AL East power this week when they take on the Boston Red Sox, with a three-game series beginning on Tuesday.

Earning the wins for the Nationals over the Yankees last week were starting pitchers John Lannan and Craig Stammen, and both of the hurlers are slated to take the hill against the Red Sox this week. Lannan held the Bronx Bombers to two earned runs on four hits over 8 1-3 innings in the win, walking one and striking out four. The lefthander is on a streak of three straight quality starts, boosting his record to 4-5 with a 3.38 ERA on the year. Lannan has allowed more than three earned runs in just three of 14 starts.

Stammen was even more impressive, holding the Yankees scoreless on six hits over 6 1-3 innings in his outing last week. The rookie right-hander picked up the first win of his career in that contest, as he went 0-2 with three no-decisions in his first five outings. Stammen has a 4.76 ERA on the season, and the Nationals are 3-3 over his six starts.

Expected to start for the Red Sox in the series are Brad Penny, Jon Lester, and John Smoltz. Penny has given up just one unearned run over his last two starts (11 innings), and sits at 6-2 with a 4.94 ERA on the season. Lester is 5-6 with a 4.69 ERA, allowing two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four outings. Smoltz will be activated from the disabled list to make his first start for the Red Sox on Thursday; the veteran right-hander will replace the struggling Daisuke Matsuzaka in the rotation for the week.

Boston will continue their road trip in Atlanta later in the week, while the Nationals will move on to Baltimore for a three-game set over the weekend. The Orioles head into the week having won three straight interleague series over the Braves, Mets, and Phillies, and they’ll try to bounce a fourth straight NL East opponent when they meet the Marlins.

The Yankees will try to put the embarrassment of their series loss to the Nationals behind them when they take on the Braves and Mets on the road this week. Tuesday’s Yankees/Braves matchup has Chien-Ming Wang taking on Atlanta rookie right-hander Tommy Hanson. Wang will be trying to improve on his ugly stats line (0-5, 12.30 ERA) with a quality start against the Braves; the right-hander lost to the Nats in his last outing. Hanson had a shaky first outing for Atlanta, but has earned the win in his last two starts.

Other marquee series set to get underway early in the week include the Cubs at Detroit, Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, and the Dodgers at the White Sox. As well, the Cardinals and Mets will play a four-game series in New York from Monday through Thursday. The probable pitchers for Monday’s opener are set as Todd Wellemeyer and Tim Redding.

Rivalry series are then on tap for the weekend, with the schedule offering up such geographic matchups as the Cubs at the White Sox, Cincinnati at Cleveland, Florida at Tampa Bay, and the Yankees at the Mets. The New York clubs met in a series at Yankee Stadium from June 12-14, with the Yankees winning two of the three games. That set included the 15-0 Yankees win in the finale over the Mets and ace starter Johan Santana – Santana allowed nine earned runs over three innings in that contest.

Check the BetUS MLB odds section for the latest lines and totals for the week’s action.



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