The Tampa Bay Rays got back on the right foot to an extent yesterday, beating the Washington Nationals for a much-needed win at home. On Saturday afternoon, they run things back again at the Trop as Cade Cavalli and Ian Seymour go head-to-head on the mound. Will we get an exciting battle between postseason hopefuls?

As the new series begins tonight at 7:40 p.m. ET, here’s a betting prediction and pick for this Nationals vs. Rays matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Nationals vs. Rays prediction, preview

Washington Nationals

The Nats’ young bats have cruised to a 39-37 record on the campaign and are clearly in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. They’re still 6-4 over their last 10 games and offer plenty of upside, but the pitching did them in yesterday as Miles Mikolas gave up five earned runs on nine hits in his start. However, Washington still has a run differential of +12 and produces an MLB-best 5.38 runs per game. The club maintains a a .742 OPS that ranks fifth overall in the sport, and the full slash line reads .247/.321/.421 with a .285 BABIP. However, they get the benefit of facing a lefty tonight, bringing improved marks at .271/.352/.439 for a .791 OPS. While just 23 homers have come against southpaws, the Nats have 98 on the year in total with an overall ISO of .174 that ranks third in baseball. Plus, the plate process is perfectly fine with a 21.0% K% and 8.8% BB%.

RHP Cade Cavalli was scheduled to start yesterday but missed due to illness. Today, he’s healthy enough to suit up and enters with a 4-4 record through his 15 outings. He brings a 3.98 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 81 strikeouts across 74.2 IP. The bullpen’s numbers are rough though, sitting 24th in ERA at 4.75 with a 1.42 WHIP and 7.5% K-BB%.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are seeking a path back to the top of the AL East, and at 42-30, they’re just three games shy of first place. They had hit a rough patch recently with the bats cooling way off in a slump that had them dead last in OPS over a two-week span heading into yesterday, but they scored five in the win and are up to a +8 run differential on the year. They average 4.44 runs per game. Tampa Bay has a .715 OPS and a slash line of .256/.333/.381, and the club gets the better of its splits today at .261/.340/.397 for a .737 OPS against right-handed pitching. That’s a positive for this outing, as is a BB/K ratio of 0.50, plus an MLB-best 18.9% K% and a 9.5% BB%. The Rays put the ball in play with a .301 BABIP, but a .126 ISO and 60 home runs mean that power is a problem for this lineup. That’s certainly the biggest area in which they’re lacking.

LHP Ian Seymour comes out of the bullpen to start today. He has a 3-0 record with a 4.93 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP and 41 SO across 38.1 IP. He does have excellent grades in xBA and whiff rate, also keeping opponent exit velocity down. He’ll likely get the first couple of innings if he’s rolling, but he certainly won’t pitch deep into the game. The Rays’ bullpen has a 4.61 ERA that ranks 22nd with a 1.36 WHIP and 10.9% K-BB%.

Nationals vs. Rays pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Rays as -125 Moneyline favorites at home today. The Nationals are underdogs at +104 odds to win outright with the run total set at eight.

Best Bet: WAS Nationals ML (+104)

I struck out yesterday with a straight Moneyline pick for the Nats, but I blame Miles Mikolas for that more than the team’s bats, who had six hits and scored a couple of runs. It wasn’t the most impressive outing from them, but they’re positioned nicely heading into today’s matchup against a lefty. The slash line against southpaws means something to me, as does the fact that Cavalli might be able to get something going with his strikeout stuff even against a Rays lineup that doesn’t whiff much. Plus, Tampa Bay’s two-homer outing yesterday was much more of a one-off than a sign of things to come since the team’s power is so lacking. This matchup has a Washington win written all over it.