The San Diego Padres host the Washington nationals for Game 3. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series with a Nationals-Padres prediction and pick.
This series is backward, there is no other way to describe it. The team that traded away one of the game’s top players is up 2-0 in a four-game set… to the team they traded him to. Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres look awful at this point in the season. With Soto, Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, Brandon Drury, and Josh Bell, there is just no excuse not to score runs. It’s been a rough second half of the season ad Padres fans have seen this before. The Friars must turn it around and tonight is the best possible chance for them to do so. If the Nationals take this game, they could potentially sweep the Padres in this series.
Here are the Nationals-Padres MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Nationals-Padres Odds
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (+100)
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (-132)
Over: 7.5 (-108)
Under: 7.5 (-112)
Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread
The Nationals’ top young arm is starting tonight. Josiah Gray is (7-8) on the season with a 4.79 ERA in 118.1 innings. The right-hander came to the Nationals in the Max Scherzer deal and is off to a steady start to his career. His last two starts were against the Chicago Cubs where he allowed a combined five runs in 12 innings. He struck out 10 in his last start but allowed two walks and two home runs to the Cubbies. Gray elevates his game on the road this season as he is (5-1) with a 3.21 ERA in 61 innings.
Some interesting names are excelling right now for the Nats. So far in this series, it’s been the Keibert Ruiz, Joey Meneses, and Ildemaro Vargas show. Ruiz was also a part of the Scherzer deal but not many have heard of the other two. They are finding ways to score runs in the first two games and also did so in their previous series about a week ago. CJ Abrams hit a two-run RBI single last night against his former team that proved to be beneficial to their win. If they can continue to string together hits then they should be able to stay close in this game as well.
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Starting for the Padres tonight is 2022 All-Star Joe Musgrove. The second half of the year has been brutal to the SD native, who can’t seem to buy a win. Not that it is a pitcher’s stat, but the Friars have won just two games that he has started since June. Musgrove didn’t even register a win either. His last win was back on June 16 against the Cubs. Unless it’s the San Francisco Giants, the Padres just can’t seem to give him enough run support to win games. He is (8-6) after starting the season (8-0). Now, he has a 2.98 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 133 innings.
The offense for the Padres is nonexistent right now. Manny Machado is literally putting the team on his back because all of the runs come from him. Juan Soto walks every other at bat and if Machado doesn’t hit him in, then the offense goes nowhere. Machado has been excellent this season, with a batting average of .304, and has 22 home runs and 76 RBIs. He leads every offensive stat for this team outside of walks as Soto has double the amount over any other player in the league. Josh Bell has really struggled since coming to SD but Drury has been a sight for sore eyes. Drury is finding ways to get on base and his power is showing with two homers since his arrival.
The offense must get back on track tonight.
Final Nationals-Padres Prediction & Pick
This is a tough choice because the Nationals have seen a lot of success in this series. I think that changes tonight. Musgrove is back in SD and should get back to his ways. Expect him to pitch a gem tonight and the Friars take their first game of the series.
Final Nationals-Padres Prediction & Pick: Padres -1.5 (-132)
