Padres vs. Nationals prediction and odds for Tuesday, May 23 (Value on the total)

The San Diego Padres are just 2-8 in their last 10 games heading into Tuesday’s showdown with the lowly Washington Nationals.

Former Padres top prospect MacKenzie Gore, who was dealt to Washington in the Juan Soto deal, will get a crack at facing his former team tonight. Gore is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA so far this season.

The Padres have ace Yu Darvish (2-3, 3.56 ERA) on the bump for this game.

This should be a winnable road game for the Friars, but they’ve underachieved to this point and are without star Manny Machado, who is on the injured list.

Let’s examine the odds and a best bet for this National League contest:

Padres vs. Nationals odds, run line and total

Padres vs. Nationals prediction and pick

Both Gore and Darvish have been solid this season, and each of their Fielding Independent Pitching numbers are eerily similar to their ERAs so far this season.

I absolutely love the UNDER in this matchup as a result, especially when you look at these team’s season long OVER/UNDER trends.

The Padres are the best UNDER team in Major League Baseball, going 31-14-2 so far this season. Washington isn’t far behind at 24-20-3.

Plus, both of these offenses have struggled this season, ranking in the bottom 10 in the league in OPS. The Nationals have been even worse against right-handed pitching (26th in MLB) than they have overall this season.

Darvish should be able to shut down this lineup, and Gore has allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his nine starts this season. The UNDER is the way to go.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.