It is interleague baseball today as the Washington Nationals face the Toronto Blue Jays. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Nationals-Blue Jays prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Nationals enter the game after taking two of three from the Marlins over the weekend. They have been hot as of late. The Nationals have won eight of their last 11 games, and are no longer in last place in the NL East. This was expected to be a bad year for the Nationals, but they have exceeded the low expectations set for them. The Nationals are currently 61-70 on the season. While they are 24 games out in the division, they are just eight games back in the Wild Card Race. Chances are they will not make the playoffs, but the record is good enough, the Nationals have extended their GM and Manager with nice new contracts.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays lost two of three to the Guardians and are now 71-60 on the year. They are 10.5 games behind the Orioles in the division and 2.5 games behind the Astros and Rangers in the Wild Card race. They are also dealing with new injury concerns. Both Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman left the game yesterday with injuries. Neither injury looks to be long-term, but with every game being needed, this could hamper their playoff chances.

Here are the Nationals-Blue Jays MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Nationals-Blue Jays Odds

Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-104)

Toronto Blue Jays: -1.5 (-115)

Over: 8 (-105)

Under: 8 (-115)

How To Watch Nationals vs. Blue Jays

TV: MASN/SportsNet

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 7:07 PM ET/ 4:07 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Nationals Could Cover The Spread

The Nationals offense has been rolling as of late and the result has been the Nationals winnings. They are tied for 19th this year in runs scored while sitting sixth in batting average, 18th in on-base percentage, and 21st in slugging. Lane Thomas leads the team in home runs and batting average this year. He is a little down this month in batting average, hitting .266, but he is getting on base at a .324 rate. Thomas has also hit six doubles, a triple, and four home runs, leading to 12 RBIs. He has also scored 16 times this month.

Meanwhile, the National is getting production from Keibert Ruiz and Alex Call over the last week. Ruiz is hitting .385 in the last week while scoring a run and driving in a run. Alex Call is hitting .357 in the last week, with a double, a home run, and three RBIs while scoring twice. CJ Abrams, while not hitting as well, is scoring the most on the team. In the last week, he is hitting .240 with a .269 on-base percentage. Abrams has also hit two home runs and scored four times in the last week.

The Nationals sent Josiah Gray to the mound today. He is 7-10 on the season with a 3.85 ERA. His last time out was stellar. He went six innings and gave up just one hit. The one hit was a solo home run, but still, he limited the Yankees to just that one run in a Nationals victory.  Still, this month has not been the best for him. Gray has pitched 17.1 innings this month and given up 15 runs. That is a 7.79 ERA, but the Nationals are 2-2 this month in games he has started.

Why The Blue Jays Could Cover The Spread

For the Blue Jays, it is all about stellar pitching. They are second in the majors in team ERA this year while sitting eighth in WHIP, and seventh in opponent batting average. They send Kevin Gausman to the mound today, who is 9-8 with a 3.23 ERA this year. Gausman is not having the best month overall. While he did get a win with a seven-innings performance in which he did not give up a run, it is his only win this month. In the other three games, he has bitched 15.2 innings, giving up 12 runs with ten earned. That is good for a 5.74 ERA in this game. He is also not getting a lot of run support this month. He has received just six runs of support in the four games this month.

This year the Blue Jays sit 17th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting eighth in batting average, ninth in on-base percentage, and 15th in slugging. Hoping to give Gausman some run support today will be Daulton Varsho. In the last week, he has been driving in a fair amount of runs. With the help of a double and a home run, he has driven in five runs. He is hitting just .280 though, and the only run he has scored was driving in himself. George Springer is scoring though. He has six runs scored in the last week while hitting .227. Springer also has two home runs and a double, with three RBIs, and has stolen a base.

The hottest bat in the lineup may belong to Valdimir Guerrero Jr. He has been hitting .333 in the last week and has been limiting strikeouts. He has struck out just once in his last 27 at-bats. Meanwhile, he has hit a double and two home runs leading to four RBIs and four runs scored. Without Bo Bichette in the lineup, Davis Schneider could see some time in this one. He played in the last two games of the Guardians series, and was great, driving in five runs in the two games. Since joining the big league squad at the start of August, he is hitting .432 with five home runs and 11 RBIs while scoring nine times.

Final Nationals-Blue Jays Prediction & Pick

Since the All-Star break the Nationals are 25-16. That is good for the sixth-best record, and better than the Braves, Astros, and Phillies. The Blue Jays have not been bad either, sitting at 21-19. The Nationals have done this against The Marlins, Phillies, Red Sox, Reds, and Brewers. They have been playing very good baseball, and the record shows that. Gausman gives the Jays the pitching edge, but this one is going to be close.

Final Nationals-Blue Jays Prediction & Pick: Nationals +1.5 (-104)