Nationals vs Padres Prediction
The Washington Nationals will continue their West Coast trip this evening in their second of a four-game series vs the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
- Check out Giants vs Cardinals prediction
The Nationals come into this matchup as winners of 5 of their last 10 and sitting at second place in the inconsistent NL East division behind the New York Mets. They won the first matchup of the series last night by a score of 7-5 after a Josh Bell home run gave them the lead in the Top of the 7th inning.
The Padres have been falling from their rapid pace recently, sitting at .500 in their last 10 games like the visiting Nationals. They are in a tight race for the lead of the talented NL West sitting 4.5 games back of both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
The Padres’ loss last night marked 4 in their last 5 games as they have been struggling to both score and keep runners from crossing home plate on defense.
Despite their loss last night, the Padres received another highlight-reel play to add to the playlist of the highlight reel himself that is shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. He pulled off a superhuman and acrobatic defensive play on a line drive off the bat from Nationals DH Ryan Zimmerman. He robbed what could have been an extra-base shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCQnODSDdOU
Keys to Game 2 of the Series
The pitching matchup in this game is not one that people will be salivating over.
The Nationals will throw either Jefry Rodriguez on the mound for his fourth appearance of the season or Patrick Corbin. Rodriguez holds no wins or losses and an ERA of 2.25 over 8 total innings pitched. He has 6 strikeouts over those 8 innings.
Corbin has been awful this year, posting a 5-7 record in 16 starts to go with a 5.56 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
The Padres will send out left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers. Weathers has been very serviceable this year and has great numbers. Over 51.1 innings pitched on the season, he holds a 3-2 record with an ERA of 2.63. He has totaled 39 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.110 on the season in his 15 total appearances.
On the season, Washington has allowed 4.18 runs per game this season, good enough for the 11th-best in the majors, but over the last two weeks, the Nats have recorded a lowly 5.51 ERA, leading to their slight drop in win totals in that time.
A lot of that can be attributed to the Nationals bullpen has registered a 5.37 ERA in that span. However, the bats have awoken for the Nationals in June. And the bats have been carried by now first-time All-Stars Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto.
Unfortunately, Schwarber, who had hit 12 homers in his last 13 games, will remain out for this matchup dealing with a hamstring strain. The Nationals will look to both Juan Soto and Trea Turner to lead the offense, both of which recorded an RBI in last night’s victory.
As opposed to the Nationals, The Padres bullpen possesses the lowest ERA in baseball at 2.85, and they have been meddling over the last three weeks in which San Diego’s relievers have posted a 3.95 ERA.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado will always be offensive weapons to worry about for the Padres, along with key players such as Eric Hosmer. Look for at least one of these 3 to give the Nationals pitching some trouble tonight.
Nationals vs Padres Prediction
After giving the Padres only their second home loss in their last 10 home games, I do not see the Nationals being able to continue their effort for a sweep tonight.
Weathers has been solid on the bump for the Padres, and although the Nationals have been great offensively vs. lefties, their pitching will be questionable tonight on both the starting and bullpen side.
I like the Padres to take Game 2 of this 4-game set in a higher-scoring affair.
Final Picks: Padres ML (-185) and Over 9 runs (-115). Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
