Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 4/14/25, 3:00 PM  by Carlos Zabala in MLB Picks

After the Nationals won the first game of the series against the Marlins 7-4, their momentum was cut short by the Marlins' strong performance in the next two games of the series, where the Marlins, with their solid baseball, took the final two games, defeating the Nats 7-6 and 11-4. Thus, the Nats lost the dominance they had over the Marlins in 2024 and had other negative news, such as star player Abrams, who went on the 10-day injured list due to a hip injury.

With this, the Nationals' record is now 6-9, and the chances of winning the first game of the series against the Pirates at PNC Park are slim, given that the Pirates will be pitching 2024 Rookie of the Year and new MLB star Paul Skenes.

Skenes struck out 20 batters in 18.1 innings, and despite his team being one of the worst-hitting teams in MLB, the Pirates will be the betting favorites just for his presence on the mound. Skenes had two good outings to start 2024, but his second was especially better against the Rays, where he pitched 7 scoreless innings and struck out 6, but his third outing of 2025 was perhaps the worst of his career, allowing 5 ER in 6 innings to the Cardinals, against whom Skenes was sometimes too frank in the middle zone but where he still struck out 7.