Happy Thursday baseball fans! The Arizona Diamondbacks travel to the nation's capital to take on the Washington Nationals in a mid-week showdown. It is time to take a sneak peek at our MLB odds series, which will include our Diamondbacks-Nationals prediction and pick.

 

In the fourth and final game of this early season series, Arizona has lost two of three to the Nats and will look to guarantee a split with a victory this afternoon. Thus far, the D-Backs have not gotten off to the start they would like to forget with a record of 4-8, good for fifth in the NL West. With Arizona looking to right the ship and get back on track, they will send RHP Zach Davies, who is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA to kick off his 2022 campaign.

At 6-8, the Nationals will try to inch their way closer to the .500 mark with lefty Josh Rogers receiving the ball on the bump. Rogers is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA in his two previous starts.

MLB odds: Diamondbacks-Nationals Odds

Arizona Diamondbacks: +1.5 (-196)

Washington Nationals: -1.5 (+162)

Over: 9 (-118)

Under: 9 (-104)

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Why the Diamondbacks Could Cover the Spread

Hitting is contagious. After dropping the first two contests in D.C., Arizona responded nicely by dropping 11 runs on 10 hits and avoided losing yet another series to open up the 2022 season. While it hasn't been the ideal start the Diamondbacks would've hoped for, keep in mind that the month of April is simply a tune-up for what the rest of the season has to offer. Luckily, the D-Backs took the right steps in seeking improvement on Wednesday.

Obviously, exploding for 11 runs and feeling hotter than a scalding July summer day in the Grand Canyon State will almost always guarantee a squad the win, but even the offensive prowess that was shown on Wednesday is encouraging enough for Diamondbacks fans to have some hope.

In fact, Arizona had the lucky honor of being the one major-league team that was dead-last in runs scored entering yesterday's games, something that has been a major issue in their 11 games prior. After the most recent offensive onslaught, the D-Backs now rank 27th in runs scored with 33 on the year, still a lowly mark that must see a vast improvement in order to not only win in the long run but also if they want to seek victory on Thursday.

Names like rookie Seth Beer and Daulton Varsho will need to continue to ride their hot hands at the plate in order to cover the spread, as the dynamic duo drove in a combined six runs in their rout at Washington.

On the mound will be the 29-year-old Zach Davies, who experienced a rough outing in his last start versus the Mets in which he was shellacked for five runs in only 4 1/3 innings pitched. Davies won't overpower opposing hitters with his fastball, and will instead rely on a flurry of breaking pitches that can sometimes be effective in getting batters to chase balls out of the zone. Signed just last month by Arizona, Davies is 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA in his three career starts against Washington.

Why the Nationals Could Cover the Spread

As for Washington, they seemingly looked the part of a well-oiled machine during the first two matchups of this series before ultimately getting blown out on Wednesday versus Arizona by a score of 11-2. The ‘Nats could cover the spread in this series finale with another performance that was similar to their previous two games in this matchup in which Washington was able to hold Arizona hitting to one run in 18 innings of baseball played. Matching their longest winning streak thus far in the season at two games before yesterday's debacle, the Nationals have a chance to win only their second series of 2022 with a triumphant victory on Thursday.

There was no question that it was a bad day to be a Nationals pitcher, as the wheels absolutely fell off after appearing to be so dominant in recent games. The larger sample size suggests that Washington is a very poor pitching bunch, as they currently are the fourth-worst team in the majors with a team-combined ERA of 4.94. While this is not a recipe for success, the ‘Nats still currently somehow sit in second place in the NL East, and are only 3.5 games back of New York.

Making his first-ever appearance against Arizona will be the southpaw on the hill in Josh Rogers, who has pitched rather well thus far after racking up a 2-2 record and accumulating a 3.28 ERA during 2021.

After an injury scare that saw 1B Josh Bell exit last night's game with a knee injury, Washington will need to find production elsewhere at the dish in case their lefty slugger can't suit up. The Nationals are much better in the batter's box than what they have shown on the mound so far, as Washington has the twelfth most runs in the league with 53.

Diamondbacks-Nationals Prediction

After a small sample size of what Arizona is capable of, a repeat of their success will occur on Thursday afternoon, especially with Davies' career success versus the ‘Nats.

Final Diamondbacks-Nationals Prediction & Pick: Diamondbacks +1.5 (-196)