San Diego Padres vs Washington Nationals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 9/8/26, 10:05 AM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 9/8/26 at 10:08 AM in MLB Picks

The San Diego Padres are in a dogfight with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final wild card spot in the National League. They currently trail Arizona by just a half game. Tonight, they face the Washington Nationals in game two of their series and hope to continue their strong play.

Yesterday, Nick Pivetta went 5 scoreless innings to pick up his 2nd win of the season for the Padres. Jackson Merrill led the offense. He finished 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. The Padres picked up the 3-2 victory and kept pace with the Diamondbacks for the wild card race.

The loss made it 5 straight losses for the Nationals. They are out of postseason contention and have been playing teams that are either already a lock for the playoffs or are fighting to get in. They have been competing and have lost their last 4 games by just an average of 1.5 runs per game.

Tonight, the Nationals will try to beat up on Casey Mize. He has struggled since joining the Padres and has a 1-3 record during that time. Their problem is that their starter will be Riley Cornelio, who has a 5.96 ERA and likely will not pitch more than 2 innings, as he has all season. Once the bullpen comes in, that could spell doom. The Nationals are 28th in the league in combined ERA at 4.72.