San Diego Padres vs Washington Nationals Picks and Prediction for Friday May 29 2026

By: Eddie Kline Published 05/29/2026, 01:25 AM ET

Padres Preview

In Friday night MLB interleague action, the San Diego Padres will invade the nation’s capital to face the Washington Nationals. Be ready for the baseball season with all of our MLB predictions. The Padres (31-24) are looking to bounce back after being swept at home by Philadelphia and were shutout twice in the three-game series. San Diego is currently seven games above .500 on the road and trails NL West Division leading Los Angeles by 4.5 games.

Thirty-one year old righty Lucas Giolito (2-0 2.70 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres in this matchup. Last time out, Giolito worked around five walks and tossed five scoreless innings during a 2-0 home victory versus the Athletics.

Nationals Preview

The Washington Nationals have won six of their last ten games and are 8.5 games off the pace in the NL East Division race. On Wednesday, Washington batters went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base during a 3-2 road loss against Cleveland. SS C.J. Abrams went 2-for-3 and drove in a run for the Nationals (29-28), who fell to 19-12 on the road.

Twenty-six year old left-hander Andrew Alvarez (2.84 ERA) will make his first start of the season for the Nationals. Alvarez, who has worked 12.2 innings in four relief appearances, has fanned 16 batters and owns an impressive 1.03 WHIP.

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Padres vs Nationals Pick

San Diego 2B Jake Cronenworth is currently on the 7-day concussion list and could be activated for this series. Through 56 games, San Diego ranks 29th in OPS and 25th in runs scored. For the season, Washington ranks 4th in OPS and 1st in runs scored. Take the over. Final Score Prediction, Washington Nationals win 6-5.