Washington Nationals vs. Tampa Bay Rays – 9/8/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Washington Nationals meet Tuesday in MLB action from Nationals Park. 

This will be the second installment of a quick two-game set between these teams this week. In the first game on Monday, the Nationals scored three runs in the sixth inning on the way to a 6-1 victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Rays had eight hits to Washington’s 10 in the Monday game, but couldn’t cash in on any offense. The lone run came via a Randy Arozarena solo homer in the eighth. Starting pitcher Charlie Morton went 5.0 innings with four hits, four hits, three earned, one walk and three strikeouts in the loss. He’s 1-2 on the season now. 

For the Tuesday starting pitcher role, Tampa Bay is rolling with Ryan Yarbrough. Across seven starts this season, Yarbrough is 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 37.0 innings of work. In his career, Yarbrough is 27-14 with a 3.98 ERA and 271 Ks in 326.0 innings. 

Over on the Nationals’ side, Starting pitcher Max Scherzer improved his 2020 record to 4-2 with a victory on Monday, going 7.0 innings with six hits, no earned, one walk and eight strikeouts. Catcher Kurt Suzuki posted three hits with an RBI and a run. 

For Tuesday’s pitching start, the Nationals are sending out Anibal Sanchez. In seven games this season, Sanchez is 1-4 with a 6.48 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. Sanchez is 109-112 on his MLB career with a 4.02 ERA and 1707 Ks in 1928.2 innings total. 

The Rays are 7-1 in their last eight Tuesday games and 20-6 in their last 26 interleague games as a favorite. The Rays are 51-24 in their last 75 overall and the under is 6-1-1 in their last eight Tuesday games. 

Meanwhile, the Nationals are 10-3 in their last 13 Tuesday games and 10-22 in their last 32 versus the American League East. The under is 4-1-1 in Washington’s last six Tuesday games and 18-6-3 in their last 27 games as an underdog. 

Pick: Going Rays here. That said, Yarbrough is coming off the injured list and will probably not stay in this game for long—even though he supposedly doesn’t have an innings limit. With most other teams that would be an issue but Tampa has such a great pitching staff that it normally doesn’t even matter. As for Sanchez, I expect him to be better than the 3.1 innings in his last start but this one should be all Rays. I realize the Tampa Bay offense didn’t have such a great outing Monday, but that seems to be an outlier this season.