Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 5/25/2021

The Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals meet in MLB action from Nationals Park on Tuesday night.

The Cincinnati Reds will look to bounce back from a 9-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last time out. Nick Castellanos led the way, going 3 for 4 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs while Jesse Winker went 2 for 5 with a solo home run to round out the scoring for the Reds as well in the defeat. Shogo Akiyama and Tyler Naquin each had a double to cap off Cincinnati’s offense as a team in the losing effort. Luis Castillo took the loss, falling to 1-7 on the year after allowing five runs on five hits while striking out five over five innings of work. Tyler Mahle will start here and is 2-2 with a 4.20 ERA and 54 strikeouts this season. In his career, Mahle is 1-1 with a 12.15 ERA and 9 strikeouts against the Nationals.

The Washington Nationals will look to build on a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles in their last game. Kyle Schwarber had a home run and two RBIs while Alex Avila went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Andrew Stevenson, Trea Turner and Josh Bell each had a pair of hits with an RBI to finish off Washington’s scoring as a team in the win while Josh Harrison went 2 for 4 with a double to cap off the Nationals’ offense as a team in the victory. Patrick Corbin got the win to improve to 3-3 on the year after allowing four runs on 11 hits while striking out three over 5.2 innings of work. Brad Hand closed out the 9^th for his 7^th save of the season. Max Scherzer will start here and is 4-2 with a 2.24 ERA and 76 strikeouts this season. In his career, Scherzer is 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 68 strikeouts against Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is 3-9 in their last 12 games as a road underdog and 1-4 in their last 5 games following a loss while the under is 3-0-1 in their last 4 games against the NL East. Washington is 4-0 in their last 4 home games and 4-1 in their last 5 games overall while the over is 5-1 in their alt 6 games following a win.

I get the case that could be made for the Reds here as they’ve picked up their play lately, and Mahle has pitched fairly well this season with the Reds going 6-3 in his 9 starts this year. However, Scherzer is back to looking like Cy Young Scherzer, giving up one earned run or less in 6 of his last 7 starts and the Nationals are starting to find their groove offensively as well. I’ll side with the Nationals in this one and sprinkle a bit on the -1.5 run line as well here.