San Diego Padres vs Washington Nationals 8/19/22 MLB Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres meet in MLB action from Petco Park on Friday night.

The Washington Nationals will look to build on a surprisingly good effort against the Padres from Thursday’s series opener. Cesar Hernandez has 115 hits with 25 doubles while Maikel Franco also has 85 hits and 15 doubles of his own. Keibert Ruiz also has 19 doubles and Nelson Cruz has 59 RBIs as well this season. Lane Thomas also has 11 home runs and 37 RBIs while Yadiel Hernandez has 41 RBIs as well this season. Paolo Espino will start here and is 0-5 with a 4.20 ERA and 61 strikeotus this season.

The San Diego Padres will hope to rebound after once again failing to show up in disappointing fashion on Thursday. Manny Machado has a team-high 129 hits with 30 doubles, 22 home runs and 74 RBIs while Jurickson Profar also has 26 doubles, 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. Jake Cronenworth has 3 triples as well as 23 doubles and 63 RBIs on the year. Blake Snell will start this one and is 5-6 with a 3.66 ERA and 105 strikeouts this season.

Washington is 1-8 in Espino’s last 9 road starts against a team with a winning record and 32-66 in their last 98 road games while the over is 2-0-2 in their last 4 road games against a team with a winning record. San Diego is 7-2 in their last 9 home games and 10-4 in their lat 14 games against a team with a right-handed starter while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games against the NL East.

I get why you’d look at the Nats as a heavy plus money dog on Friday, but the problem is that these plus money spots don’t cash in a whole lot and if it was another arm I could maybe talk myself into taking Washington. However, Paolo Espino’s been disappointing to put it nicely as of late and while I’ve been critical of Blake Snell, he’s been one of the Padres’ best pitchers over the last month. The Padres were brutal on Thursday, but I’ll lean their way for a bounce back on the -1.5 run line here.