Cincinnati Reds vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 5/13/26, 3:04 PM  by Carlos Zabala | Modified on 5/18/26 at 4:08 PM in MLB Picks

As expected, hitting dominated in the first game of the series in Cincinnati between the Nationals and Reds. However, it was the Nats who scored two runs in the third inning, one in the fourth, and four in the fifth. This sealed a 10-4 victory, bringing Washington's record to 20-22 and the Reds' to 22-20.

These Nationals want to show the rest of MLB that, although they are a team that relies primarily on young talent, they have home run power in their lineup that they can't help but fear. Wood continued to be the offensive spark and opened the scoring on Tuesday with his 12th home run of the season. But he was followed by Luis García and Daylen Lile, who each hit two home runs in the first game of the series; they became the sixth pair in Nats history to hit two home runs each in the same game. With the game already underway, House hit his 6th home run of the season, and Tena added an RBI double.

The first game pitted two pitchers with very high ERAs against each other, and the same will happen in the second. Washington's Irvin is posting a 5.22 ERA, and although Lodolo is just returning, he gave up two home runs in his first start of 2026.