Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 7/3/2021

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals meet in MLB action from Nationals Park on Saturday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to build on a 10-5 win over the Nationals last time out. Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Chris Taylor and A.J. Pollock each had two RBIs, with Pollock belting a two-run home run while Taylor and Betts each went 2 for 5 with a double. Justin Turner went 3 for 4 with a solo home run while Albert Pujols had an RBI as well to cap off the Dodgers’ scoring as a team in the win. Matt Beaty added a base hit as well to finish off L.A.’s offense in the victory. Julio Urias got the win to improve to 10-3 on the year after allowing one run on three hits while striking out three over six innings of work. Clayton Kershaw will start here and is 9-7 with a 3.25 ERA and 124 strikeouts this season. In his career, Kershaw is 13-3 with a 2.11 ERA and 132 strikeouts against Washington.

The Washington Nationals will look to bounce back from their loss to the Dodgers last time out. Humberto Arteaga had an RBI while Josh Bell and Yan Gomes each had a double. Starlin Castro, Juan Soto, Josh Harrison and Kyle Schwarber each had a base hit to cap off Washington’s offense as the Nationals had just six hits as a team in the loss. Max Scherzer gave up one run on four hits while striking out eight, not factoring in the decision. Sam Clay took the loss in relief to fall to 0-1 on the year as a result. Paolo Espino will start here and is 2-2 with a 2.02 ERA and 26 strikeouts this season. This will be Espino’s first career start against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles is 12-4 in their last 16 games against the NL East and 7-3 in their last 10 road games while the under is 6-0-1 in their last 7 games overall. Washington is 10-2 in their last 12 home games and 2-6 in their last 8 Saturday games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a left-handed starter. The Dodgers are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings between these two teams and 7-2 in the last 9 meetings between these two teams in Washington.

I get the case that could be made for the Nationals as Washington had been playing well over the last couple of weeks and Espino looks to be a bright, young arm for the Nationals going forward. However, Kershaw has been solid and is starting to look more and more like the ace Kershaw that we’ve been accustomed to seeing in years past. I would easily see a win on the run line for the Dodgers here, so I’ll lay the -1.5 with Los Angeles here.