Cleveland Guardians vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 5/25/26, 2:17 PM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 5/26/26 at 11:12 PM in MLB Picks

A 3-game series will begin today in Cleveland. The Washington Nationals (20-27) will visit the Cleveland Guardians (32-23). Both teams are coming off winning their weekend series.

Washington lost their initial game of the series to the Atlanta Braves but bounced back and won the final two games. Pitching is what carried them in both wins. They were only able to muster 4 total runs combined, but held the Braves to just 1 run. Jake Irvin threw 5 innings of hitless and scoreless work in game one. In game two, Foster Griffin went 6 innings of scoreless work. The bullpen has allowed just 1 run in its last 7 innings of work. This has been impressive when you’re accounting for the fact that they are just 26th in the league in combined ERA.

Cleveland is coming off a similar series. They took 2 of 3 from Philadelphia and were also led by their pitching. They held the Phillies to just 4 runs over the 3 games, but could only post 4 total runs themselves. Like the Nationals, Cleveland’s bullpen has gone 7.1 innings of scoreless work. While the Nationals' recent pitching has been a bit of a surprise, the Guardians have been solid all season. They rank 6th in MLB with a combined ERA of just 3.55.