The Dodgers East Coast trip continues as they get ready to take on the Washington Nationals. After dropping 2 out of 3 to the Phillies, Los Angeles is looking to bounce back in a positive way. As for the Nationals, they are coming off a series win against the Diamondbacks and have to feel pretty good with the way their starting pitching performed in that series. Tonight, I’m going to expect a pitchers’ duel between both starters — but I believe the Dodgers should be able to cover the run line.
It’s still early in the season, but the Dodgers’ pitching struggles against the Phillies show they have some work to do. Despite those struggles, the Dodgers boast one of the best bullpens in all of the majors — currently sitting at a 2.24 ERA. L.A. will be sending Dustin May to the mound; he is 1-0 on the season. In his last start he pitched 5.0 scoreless innings, striking out 6 against the Braves. For Washington, lefty MacKenzie Gore is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA this season. Gore will be looking to rebound from his last outing against the Blue Jays in which he gave up 3 earned runs and 9 hits in 5.0 innings. This Dodgers’ lineup is loaded, so Gore will need to be careful when pitching to hitters like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman. Looking at the batting average between both teams, they are pretty close; L.A. is only hitting .229 and Washington comes in at .226. Despite being similar in terms of batting average, the Dodgers are scoring way more than the Nationals (5.2 to 3.8 runs per game). At the end of the day, this Los Angeles team is built to make a World Series run; the Nationals are not. Plus, the bullpen discrepancy is wild (Washington has a 6.46 such ERA). Taking everything into consideration, I believe the visitors will cover the run line.
Dodgers vs Nationals prediction: Los Angeles -1.5 (-125) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
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