Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 9/14/25, 8:08 AM  by Lou Aguila | Modified on 9/16/25 at 5:56 AM in MLB Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals are heading into a rubber match on Sunday after splitting the first two games of their series at Nationals Park.

The Pirates, who have defeated the Nationals in 3 of their last 4 meetings, are listed as slight underdogs at -101 and valued at +157 if they win Game 3 by at least two runs.

Current Form:

The Pirates (65-84) just snapped a seven-game losing streak following a 5-1 win over the Nationals on Saturday. Bubba Chanler took a perfect game into the sixth inning before relief pitchers Carmen Mlodzinski and Dennis Santana put the clamps on the Nats in the final three innings. The Pirates, who average 2.8 runs per game in the last five games, got timely contributions from veteran Andrew McClutchena and Nick Yorke, who each recorded two-run singles in the 8th inning.

The Nationals dropped their third loss in the last four games after a torrid start to September, which saw the team win seven of their first eight games in the month. Washington averaged 5.6 runs per game in their last 10 games. However, the Nationals’ offense went silent on Saturday, coming up with only three hits in 30 at-bats. Robert Hassell III drove the only run for the Nats, a single in the 6th inning.