San Diego Padres vs Washington Nationals Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/29/26

The San Diego Padres are in the nation’s capital on Friday night to take on the Washington Nationals. The Padres enter this contest riding a 4-game losing streak and have scored just 6 total runs over those 4 games, but they could be in a favorable spot to bounce back in this one. The Nationals will send right-hander Paxton Schultz to start on the mound, and he will likely be asked to only cover 1-2 innings before turning things over to the bullpen. Schultz owns a less-than-ideal 5.30 ERA and 1.45 WHIP through 18.2 innings this season, and Washington’s bullpen ranks 24th in baseball with a collective 4.60 ERA. Those numbers should give the Padres a solid chance to put forth a solid offensive effort at the plate.

On the other side, San Diego will send Lucas Giolito to the mound to face the team he made his MLB debut with back in 2016. Giolito has only made 2 starts this season after starting the campaign on the IL, and he’s seen mixed results in those outings. He’s 2-0 and has allowed just 5 hits over 10.0 innings, but he’s issued more walks (8) than strikeouts (5). The Nationals have had little trouble scoring runs this season, as they lead MLB with 306 total runs and rank 4th with a team OPS of .744. Giolito should have his hands full. All in all, both offenses seem to have the edge in this one, which makes the over the play.

Padres vs Nationals prediction: Over 9 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable to -110.