The NL East rivals the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Philles will clash at Nationals Arena tonight for Game 1 of a three-game series. Both clubs are coming in hot, with Washington winning all but four of their last 21 games and Philadelphia winning seven of its last nine. Getting a run and plus-money on the Phillies is a must-play in this match-up.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Phillies will hand the ball to Sean O'Sullivan (1-2, 3.68 ERA) who will make his fifth start of the year and the third against the Nats. He's held Washington to six runs on 10 hits over 11 innings in the first two meetings and is off his best outing of the year when he hurled six scoreless innings against the D'Backs. The Nats will counter with Max Scherzer (4-3, 1.75 ERA) who is coming off a dominant performance as well when he hurled seven scoreless innings at San Diego. He's 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA over two starts against Philly on the year but was roughed up in his last start home in Washington when he conceded five runs on 10 hits over seven innings against the Fish.

2. Surging Offenses - There's been a lot of talk about the Nats terrific offense of late, but the Phillies can almost match them as Washington has scored 38 runs last seven days and Philadelphia 37. Granted, the Phillies have played two games more but their .290 batting average over the same period is still a few points better than the Nats .286.

3. X-Factor - The Phillies Ryan Howard is batting .419 since May 14 and has hit a homer in each of the last two games.

Selection: This is a play on the Philadelphia Phillies +1.5 (8*)