The Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres will finish up a four-game series on Thursday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Nationals-Padres prediction and pick.

The Nationals have taken two games from the Padres so far, so they'll be playing for a series victory. Every game is huge for Washington as they desperately try to close the gap in the NL East, where they trail the New York Mets by four games. The Padres are in a similar situation, as they trail the San Francisco Giants by 4.5 games in the NL West. Both teams are fighting to make up as much ground as possible before the All-Star break, so this series finale should be a good one.

Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for Thursday night's game.

MLB Odds: Nationals-Padres Odds

Washington Nationals ML (+134)

San Diego Padres ML (-145)

Over 7 runs (-116)

Under 7 runs (-104)

Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread

When the MLB All-Star selections were announced, one of the most notable omissions was Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. Scherzer has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for years now, and Washington will have him pitching in this series finale.

The Nationals' ace has been fantastic again this year, posting a 2.10 ERA and a .85 WHIP on the year. Both are elite statistics, but Scherzer's stats from the last seven games are even better. In that span, his ERA improves to 1.89 and his WHIP drops to .84. Scoring on Scherzer has been next to impossible this season, and expect that to continue against the Padres.

The Nationals have also been hot at the plate recently, combining for 27 runs over their last four games. As a team, Washington ranks inside the top ten in the league in batting average and OBP while ranking eleventh in both slugging percentage and OPS. This team is much better offensively than a lot of people give them credit for.

Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread

While the Nationals are sending one of the best pitchers in baseball to the mound, the Padres won't be sending out just anyone. Star Pitcher Yu Darvish will draw the start for the Padres on Thursday.

Darvish has had a great year for San Diego so far, pitching to the tune of a 2.65 ERA and a .95 WHIP. It's hard to see the Nationals teeing off on Darvish, especially since this game will take place in San Diego. Darvish has been even more dominant when pitching on his home turf, with his ERA dropping from 3.71 on the road to 2.12 at home. The Nationals also hit right-handed pitching worse than they do left-handed pitching, giving Darvish another advantage in this matchup.

It's hard to have faith in any lineup hitting against Max Scherzer, but the Padres are one of the few teams in the league who may be able to make life difficult for the Nationals starter. San Diego is better against right-handed pitching than they are against lefties, seeing a slight rise in all batting statistics when facing righties. They're also a better offensive team when playing at home, seeing their batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage all rise when playing in Petco Park.

Final Nationals-Padres Prediction & Pick

This game should be a close one, mainly because both teams are deploying dominant starters. I think the Nationals have a pretty solid chance at pulling off an upset here, and the odds make it a very nice pick. It may be a little risky, but the line is good enough for me to pick it and count on Scherzer to deliver a great performance.

FINAL PICK: Washington Nationals ML (+134)