Tampa Bay Rays vs Washington Nationals Prediction, 8/31/2025 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Washington Nationals

Date: Sunday, August 31, 2025

Location: Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

TV: MASN

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (-152) Washington (+126)

Nationals Park is the location where the Washington Nationals (53-80) will try to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays (64-69) on Sunday. The odds on this game have Tampa Bay at -152 while Washington is coming in at +126. The over/under has been set at 8.5. The pitchers who are expected to start are Ian Seymour and Brad Lord.

As a squad, the Tampa Bay Rays are putting up 4.5 runs per game, which puts them at 13th in the league. They have a total of 596 runs and have an OBP of .314. The Rays have accumulated 202 doubles as a team and have hit 149 baseballs out of the stadium. They have accrued 564 RBI's in addition to 1,129 base knocks on the season, while their average at the plate is at .251. Tampa Bay owns a slugging percentage of .401 and have struck out 1,138 times, while drawing a walk on 386 occasions.

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The Rays are sitting with a team earned run average of 3.96 so far this year (16th in MLB), and their staff has struck out 1,142 hitters. Rays pitchers have given up 177 long balls and also 558 runs in total (10th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 378 opposing hitters and their FIP sits at 4.24 as a team this season. Tampa Bay has given up 1,047 base hits (8.0 per 9 innings) in addition to 518 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.02 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.21.

The Rays have dispatched 418 relief pitchers to the hill so far this season. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 135 base runners so far this season and 32.6% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. They have recorded 28 saves on the season and have missed out on 22 of their 50 save opportunities. The Rays relief pitchers have recorded a save percentage of 56.0% and stepped onto the hill in 124 save situations. The relief pitchers have accumulated 73 holds on the season (16th in the league). Rays bullpen pitchers have entered the game with runners on 93 times as well as having 124 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Tampa Bay Rays have 3,532 putouts at this point in the season, in addition to 1,178 assists and 62 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding steady at .987 which is 11th in pro baseball, and have 122 double plays. The Rays have converted 71.0% of balls hit into play into outs out of 10,596 innings, ranking them 5th in baseball.

Seymour (2-0 win-loss mark in his career) holds a FIP of 3.15 and he has gone up against 114 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. He has conceded 20 hits (6.4 hits per nine innings) and has 9 walks. His ERA is 3.20 (10 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.032. Seymour has taken the ball for 28 frames and has 34 strikeouts thus far in his career.

The Washington Nationals have an OBP of .309 and a batting average of .243 this year. They have been rung up on 1,062 occasions (24th in the league) and are sitting with 1,084 base knocks. Washington has a total of 126 home runs on the year to go along with 543 runs batted in. The Nationals have a slugging percentage of .387 and they average 4.25 runs per contest (21st in the league). They have recorded 219 two-baggers, while getting a free base 382 times and scoring 565 runs.

The Washington pitching staff have yielded 736 runs so far this year and come in with a team ERA of 5.38 (697 earned runs conceded). They have yielded 174 home runs and they surrender 5.69 runs per 9 innings (29th in the league). The Nationals hold a team WHIP of 1.451 in addition to having a FIP of 4.69 as a staff so far this season. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.80 (1,014 strikeouts vs 456 walks). They are sitting at 29th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 1,234.

Washington has called on bullpen pitchers to enter the game in 41 save chances and they have come away with 26 saves. They are currently ranked 14th in the league holding a save percentage of 63.4%, and they have sent 469 relief pitchers to the mound for the season. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 101 times in high leverage situations in addition to 132 occasions with base runners. Washington relievers have an inherited score rate of 39.7% out of their 224 inherited base runners. Sitting with 97 save situations, the Nationals have 55 holds in addition to 15 blown saves.

In their 10,488 innings played, the Nationals have earned a defensive efficiency of 67.9% (29th in professional baseball). The Washington Nationals have gotten 103 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .985 (20th in baseball). The Nationals have accrued 1,129 assists, 71 errors and have a tally of 3,496 putouts this year.

During his career, Lord has given up 97 hits while he has earned 82 strikeouts in 100 innings pitched. Lord (4-7 win-loss mark in his career) holds a 3.86 ERA while allowing 8.7 hits per 9 innings. He has conceded 43 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.297 and having a FIP of 3.8. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.48 and he has faced 420 hitters in his MLB career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Washington (+126)

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