The Nationals make the trip to Dallas to face the Rangers. Both teams have been inconsistent, with the Nationals having a losing record, while the Rangers have not been great, but have a winning record. Our MLB odds series has our Nationals-Rangers prediction, odds, and pick for Friday.

The Nationals have been one of the teams that has epitomized inconsistency so far this season. They have a 13-14 record and have won three straight games. Both their pitching and hitting have not been great, with each of them ranking in the bottom half of the MLB. Jesse Winker, CJ Abrams, and Luis Garcia Jr. have stood out for a below-average offense up to this point in the season. Trevor Williams and MacKenzie Gore have been solid up to this point despite the staff struggling as a unit. The Nationals have talent, but it depends on if they can put it all together this season, and their inconsistency so far says they can't.

The Rangers have started their World Series defense by playing well at 15-14. They have picked up where they left off last season behind the plate. They are just outside the top 10 batting average in the MLB as a team and then they are just below the middle of the league in pitching ERA as a team. This offense is led by sluggers Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Josh Smith. This offense is loaded and was the biggest reason why the Rangers won it all last year. Their pitching has taken a dip and needs to be better. Nathan Eovaldi has taken center stage on the mound this season while Jon Gray and Dane Dunning have been good, but need to be better and that's been the case for the entire pitching staff, where they just need to be better than what they have shown so far.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Nationals-Rangers Odds

Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-166)

Moneyline: +128

Texas Rangers: -1.5 (+138)

Moneyline: -152

Over: 8.5 (+100)

Under: 8.5 (-122)

How to Watch Nationals vs. Rangers

Time: 8:05 pm ET

TV: Bally Sports Southwest / MASN

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Nationals Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Nationals are going with MacKenzie Gore on the mound in this game and he has a 2-2 record, a 3.12 ERA, and a 1.38 WHIP. Through 26 innings, Williams has allowed nine runs on 28 hits with eight walks and 31 strikeouts. The Nationals are 2-3 in the five games that he's appeared in this season. In his last start, he threw 6.0 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in a loss. This matchup does not get any easier with how good the Rangers offense has been.

The offense for the Nationals has been subpar this season. They are tied for 18th in the MLB in team batting average at .238 after having a team batting average of .254 last season. Jesse Winker and CJ Abrams lead the way in most of the important batting categories. CJ Abrams leads the way in batting average at .296, in home runs at six, in RBI at 15, and in total hits at 29. Jesse Winker then leads in OBP at .400. The Nationals' offense has been inconsistency this season, and this matchup is not much easier against Jon Gray for the Rangers.

Why The Rangers Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Rangers are going with Jon Gray to start on the mound and he has a 0-1 record, a 2.92 ERA, and a 1.46 WHIP. Through 24.2 innings this season, he has allowed 11 runs on 25 hits with 11 walks and 32 strikeouts. Gray has appeared in six games and the Rangers went 2-4 in those games so far this season. In his last start, Gray pitched 4.2 innings allowing one run on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Last season, Gray was decent with a 9-8 record, a 4.12 ERA, and a 1.29 WHIP. Gray has played well so far this season and this is a good matchup for him against the Nationals and their inconsistent bats behind the plate.

The Rangers' offense has been nothing short of great to start the season. They are 11th in team batting average at .248 after finishing last season's top two with a .263 batting average. The offense is led by sluggers in Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, and Josh Smith in most of the batting categories. Smith leads the way in batting average at .304 and in OBP at .402. Garcia then leads in home runs at eight and in RBI at 25. Semien leads the way in hits at 30. The Rangers offense has a tough matchup against Gore for the Rangers on the mound.

Final Nationals-Rangers Prediction & Pick

The Nationals are very inconsistent this season, but Gore on the mound will make this matchup tough. Gray has been solid for the Rangers and thanks to this offense they should beat the Nationals. The difference is the Rangers offense and the fact they are at home too. The Rangers should win and cover in this spot.

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Final Nationals-Rangers Prediction & Pick: Rangers -1.5 (+138)