Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Prediction 9-14-23 MLB Picks

The Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Thursday in MLB action from PNC Park. This will be the finale in a four-game series. After a split in the first pair, in the Wednesday game three the Pirates eked out a one-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Washington Nationals 

The Nationals secured a 6-2 win on Monday in this series, thanks in part to two homers and three RBI from CJ Abrams. Game two was a disappointing 5-1 loss, however. In game three on Wednesday Washington gave up four runs in the first inning on the way to a 7-6 loss. Drew Millas and Dominic Smith (two RBI; two runs) each had homers in the defeat. 

In the starter role for the Nationals on Thursday it’ll be Josiah Gray. This year in 27 starts Gray is 7-11 with a 4.13 ERA and 122 Ks in 141.2 innings. Gray has gone 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA over his last seven starts. 

Pittsburgh Pirates 

Over on the Pirates’ side, they scored twice in both the second and fifth innings during the Tuesday win, totaling 11 team hits. Joshua Palacios posted two hits, two RBI and a homer in the victory. On Wednesday the Pirates were up 7-1 after four innings but had to hang on for the win. Bryan Reynolds finished with two RBI, two runs, three hits and a homer. 

Mitch Keller will take the mound for the Thursday start. This year Keller is 11-9 with a 4.23 ERA and 191 Ks in 174.2 innings. Keller is 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA over his last seven starts, striking out 46 in 41.0 frames. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stick with the Pirates here. Keller is in need of a bounce-back start, though. In his last outing Keller took a loss versus the Braves with 5.0 innings, eight earned runs and 12 hits total. In his two starts prior to that however, Keller went 1-0 with just one earned run in 14.0 total innings. On Wednesday Pittsburgh got off to a great start at the plate and finished with 11 team hits. The Pirates have five or more runs in three of the last five games, so if the offense keeps it up in the finale behind a quality outing from Keller I think Pittsburgh gets the W.