Jack Flaherty has been as solid as the Cardinals could have hoped for in 2018, posting both 30.2 percent K rate and 12.9 percent SwStr (swinging-strike rate) on the season. Those would be top-10 and top-15 marks in MLB, respectively, if he had just a few more innings to qualify for leaderboards.

Though the Nationals’ Tanner Roark has a streak of four quality starts that will mute this line, it’s our job to take advantage of that, especially in a game that most assuredly will come down to a bullpen battle. Advantage: Cardinals on that count, as Washington’s pen is an accident waiting to happen every night.

The play: Cardinals (-135) over Nationals.

Gill Alexander is host of VSiN’s “A Numbers Game,” from 10 a.m.-noon weekdays. Watch at VSiN.com or listen on SiriusXM 204.