San Diego Padres vs Washington Nationals Picks and Prediction for Sunday May 31 2026

By: Eddie Kline Published 05/31/2026, 01:25 AM ET

Padres Preview

Nationals Park will play host to a Sunday afternoon MLB interleague clash between the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals. Be ready for the baseball season with all of our MLB predictions. The Padres (32-25) have dropped seven of their previous ten games and trail NL West Division leading Los Angeles by five games. On Saturday, 3B Manny Machado hit one of San Diego’s three long balls during a 9-4 road loss against Washington.

Thirty year old right-hander Griffin Canning (0-3 7.54 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres in this matchup. Control has been an issue in the early going for Canning, who has walked 13 batters and owns a subpar 1.54 WHIP across 22 plus frames.

Nationals Preview

The Washington Nationals have won six of their last ten games and have moved into a tie with Philadelphia for second place in the NL East Division. During yesterday’s home victory, Curis Mead came off the Washington bench to drive in three runs and score another. 1B Luis Garcia Jr. went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs for the Nationals (30-29), who improved to 11-17 at home.

The Nationals will counter with thirty year old right-hander Zack Littell (4-4 5.23 ERA) in the series finale. Washington has won Littell’s previous three starts and he has allowed just three runs over his last 17 innings of work.

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Padres vs Nationals Pick

Washington SP Jake Irvin is currently on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain and hopes to return early next month. Through 57 games, San Diego ranks 29th in OPS and 26th in runs scored. For the season, Washington ranks 4th in OPS and 1st in runs scored. Take the Nationals to win at home. Final Score Prediction, Washington Nationals win 6-2.