The Washington Nationals try to continue getting their 2015 MLB season back on track on Tuesday, as they welcome the St. Louis Cardinals into Nationals Park for a tough three-game series. The Nats (6-7) sit behind the New York Mets (10-3) and Atlanta Braves (8-4) in what is shaping up to be a competitive NL East, while St. Louis comes in white hot (8-3) as the first-place team out of the NL Central.
This is actually a rematch of the memorable 2012 NLDS, and considering both teams are amongst the upper echelon of the National League, it should assuredly be an entertaining three-game set. Suites at Nationals Park start at $3,500 depending on the size of the suite according to SuiteHop, while tickets for this series have very affordable prices. In fact, the average ticket price for the opener is just $42, with a get-in price of $7, according to TiqIQ. Washington DC parking can also be quite convenient for those attending the game through the use of ParkWhiz, starting at $15 for these games.
Washington could have its hands full as they try to get back to .500 ball on Tuesday, as their bats will try to work around solid Cardinals ace, Lance Lynn. Lynn is coming off of a strong outing recently and if he brings the goods he could help the Cards land their ninth win in a row. That could be easier said than done against the Nats’ bats, of course, given the team’s 53 runs scored on the year, as well as strong hitting out of Ian Desmond (batting .314) and the power behind Bryce Harper (four homers) and Ryan Zimmerman (two home runs and 11 RBI).
While Washington certainly packs an offensive punch, St. Louis has the pitching to combat it if Lynn brings his best game, while their offense isn’t exactly hurting, either. St. Louis has done well to produce timely offense throughout the year, as Matt Carpenter is absolutely crushing right now (hitting .400 with 10 RBI) and Matt Holliday is also red hot with a .361 batting percentage. Needless to say, if the bats show up for the Cardinals for this series, Washington will need much better play from its pitching rotation (52 runs allowed so far this year).
As strong as the Cardinals have been, it’s probably the Nationals that teams entered 2015 fearing, thanks to a fierce combination of power hitting and elite pitching. That combo hasn’t worked out quite as the team had hoped through the first 13 games, but the hope is the balance will be on display starting April 21st. Fans are in for a treat, either way, as Nationals tickets offer solid value on day one of this series ($42 on average and just $7 to get in) and even drop in price on Wednesday ($40, $7) and Thursday ($39, $8).
These two sides only went head to head for seven games a year ago, but the Cardinals had the upper hand then, taking five of those games. Washington will hope to reverse things starting on Tuesday, when Gio Gonzalez will be looking to put up a strong effort. If Gonzalez can kick off this series with a good performance and Washington’s bats come to play as they have for much of the year, St. Louis could be in trouble. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Nats get to do the damage at Nationals Park, where they’ve only had the luxury of playing seven times (4-3) so far in 2015.
