Tampa Bay Rays vs. Washington Nationals MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 6/30/2021

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Washington Nationals meet in MLB action from Nationals Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The Tampa Bay Rays will look to rebound from a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Nationals last time out. Mike Zunino and Brandon Lowe each had a solo home run while Kevin Kiermaier had a double and an RBI to make up the scoring for the Rays in the losing effort. Austin Meadows had a double as well while Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz, Wander Frano and Rich Hill each had base hits as well to finish off the offense for Tampa Bay in the defeat. Hill took the loss on the mound after allowing four earned runs on eight hits over six innings of work. Michael Wacha will start here and is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA and 39 strikeouts this season. In his career, Wacha is 4-2 with a 1.82 ERA and 42 strikeouts against Washington.

The Washington Nationals will be out to build on their win over the Rays last time out. Juan Soto had a home run and two RBIs while Kyle Schwarber and Victor Robles each had a solo blast as well to finish off the scoring for the Nats in the win. Starlin Castro, Trea Turner and Yan Gomes each had a double while Josh Harrison and Ryan Zimmerman each had base hits to cap off Washington’s offense as a team in the victory. Joe Ross got the win after giving up just two runs on six hits while striking out seven over 6.1 innings of work. Brad Hand closed the 9^th for his 18^th save of the year. Jon Lester will start here and is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA and 36 strikeouts this season. In his career, Lester is 13-11 with a 4.43 ERA and 186 strikeouts against Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay is 0-5 in their last 5 games against a left-handed starter and 61-30 in their last 91 games as a favorite while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games against the NL East. Washington is 8-1 in their last 9 home games and 11-2 in their last 13 games against a right-handed starter while the under is 8-0 in their last 8 games as a home underdog.The under is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.

I’m not rushing to the window to bet this one, but the Rays have struggled mightily on the road as of late and are looking like a shell of the team that was red-hot just over a month ago. Washington hasn’t been a world-beater and Jon Lester’s an enigma when trying to figure out what you’re going to get from him, but the Nationals are playing really well as of late and are worth the play at home in this one.