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 Thursday.

The Nationals have been one of the teams that has epitomized inconsistency so far this season. They have a 14-15 record and lost for the first time four games most recently in the first series this season. 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, Joey Gallo, 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 opened their World Series defense by playing well to a 16-14. They are playing well 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 has carried over from last season. Their pitching has been solid and has slowly gotten better throughout the season. Nathan Eovaldi has taken center stage on the mound this season while Jon Gray and Dane Dunning have also been very good. The Rangers are playing better recently and already won the first game in this series against the Nationals.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Nationals-Rangers Odds

Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-120)

Moneyline: +176

Texas Rangers: -1.5 (+100)

Moneyline: -210

Over: 8.5 (-105)

Under: 8.5 (-115)

How to Watch Nationals vs. Rangers

Time: 2:35 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 Mitchell Parker on the mound in this game and he has a 2-0 record, a 1,69 ERA, and a 0.94 WHIP. Through 16 innings, Williams has allowed three runs on 13 hits with two walks and 14 strikeouts. The Nationals are 3-0 in the three games that he's appeared in this season. In his last start, he pitched four innings, allowing one run on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in a loss. Parker has been very good in limited action and he will have a tough matchup against the Rangers behind the plate.

The offense for the Nationals has been subpar this season. They are tied for 21st in the MLB in-team batting average at .233 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 .295, in home runs at seven, in RBI at 17, and in total hits at 31. Jesse Winker then leads in OBP at .381. The Nationals' offense has been very inconsistent this season, and this matchup is not much easier against Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers, who have been great this year.

Why The Rangers Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Rangers are going with Nathan Eovaldi to start on the mound and he has a 1-2 record, a 3.00 ERA, and a 1.22 WHIP. Through 36 innings this season, he has allowed 12 runs on 27 hits with 17 walks and 36 strikeouts. Eovaldi has appeared in six games and the Rangers went 3-3 in those games so far this season. In his last start, Eovaldi pitched 6.0 innings allowing one run on three hits with five walks and eight strikeouts. Eovaldi is the Rangers' ace and he has been solid so far this season.

The Rangers' offense has been great to start the season. They are ninth in team batting average at .250 after finishing last season in the top two of the MLB with a .263 batting average. The offense is led by bona fide sluggers in Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, and Josh Smith in most of the batting categories. Smith leads the way in batting average at .317 and in OBP at .417. Garcia then leads in home runs at eight and in RBI at 25. Semien then leads the way in hits at 32. The Rangers offense has a surprisingly tough matchup against Parker on the mound for the Nationals.

Final Nationals-Rangers Prediction & Pick

Parker has been very good in limited starts for the Nationals, while Eovaldi has been great for the Rangers too. The difference is that you can count on the offense for the Rangers and you can't always for the Nationals. The Rangers should win and cover at home to stay above .500 for now and keep gaining more momentum.

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Final Nationals-Rangers Prediction & Pick: Rangers -1.5 (+100)