It’s a battle of last-place teams as the Colorado Rockies travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals. The Rockies are circling the drain in the National League West, while the Nationals are in the NL East cellar.
Both are 3-7 in their last 10 games, though the Nationals had an impressive 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
Can the Nationals win consecutive games or will the Rockies come into Nationals Park and win the first game of a four-game series? Find out with our free MLB betting picks and predictions for Rockies vs. Nationals on May 26.
Rockies vs Nationals odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
Both teams opened at -105, but the Nationals jumped to the -110 favorites while the Rockies moved to -102 at the time of this writing. The total has stayed at its opening mark of 8.5 with the Under the favorite at -120 and the Over at -110.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Rockies vs Nationals predictions
Picks made on 5/26/2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Rockies vs Nationals game info
• Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
• Date: Thursday, May 26, 2022
• First pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
• TV: MASN, AT&T Sportsnet
Rockies vs Nationals betting preview
Starting pitchers
German Marquez (1-4, 6.14 ERA): The 27-year-old righty will be trying to avenge his last start against the Nationals on May 2 when he surrendered seven runs on 10 hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings. He did get his only win two weeks ago against the Kansas City Royals. He went six innings, allowing three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out six.
Patrick Corbin (0-7, 6.60 ERA): Corbin is still searching for his first win of the season. He is second in the majors with seven losses, with teammate Joan Adon first with eight. The lefty has allowed exactly five runs in each of his last two outings. Those came after Corbin's best start of the season when he spun five scoreless frames in a no-decision against the Mets.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Rockies: Kris Bryant OF (Out), Robert Stephenson RP (Out), Antonio Senzatela SP (Out), Pete Lambert SP (Out), Ryan Rolison SP (Out), Scott Oberg RP (Out).
Nationals: Ehire Adrianza 3B (Out), Carter Kieboom 3B (Out), Hunter Harvey RP (Out), Sean Doolittle RP (Out), Will Harris RP (Out), Seth Romero RP (Out), Stephen Strasburg SP (Out), Aaron Sanchez SP (Out), Joe Ross SP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Nationals are 1-5 in their last six against a team with a losing record. Find more MLB betting trends for Rockies vs. Nationals
Rockies vs Nationals picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Rockies and Nationals are both in last place in their respective divisions and among the worst teams in baseball. The Rockies are coming off a 10-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, while the Nationals had an impressive pitching performance from Erick Fedde, who blanked the NL West-leading Dodgers through six innings, allowing just four hits while striking out six.
Can the Nationals keep it going against the Rockies? In the last series between the two, Colorado won two of three. Incidentally, the two starting pitchers for Thursday’s game — German Marquez and Patrick Corbin — both got the loss when they took the mound.
Corbin has made 10 starts and has yet to get a win. He is facing a Rockies team that has surprisingly good offensive numbers, especially when it comes to facing left-handers. They are eighth in the league in runs with 198, and their 370 hits rank fourth. Their batting average is .260, second only to the New York Mets.
Their .816 OPS against lefties is second in MLB behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rockies, however, have struggled against the NL East, going 3-8 in their last 11. They are also 4-15 in their last 19 as a road underdog.
Still, Colorado is facing a Nationals team that might be struggling more than they are. Washington is 25-55 in their last 80 games vs. a right-handed starter. They are also 13-39 in their last 52 home games.
The Rockies are 4-1 against the Nationals in their last five and facing a pitcher who has yet to win this season. That streak should continue on Thursday.
Prediction: Rockies moneyline (-102 at WynnBET)
Over/Under analysis
Both Corbin and Marquez are sporting ERAs north of 6.00 on the season. The last time Marquez pitched against the Nationals, he allowed seven runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Corbin fared a bit better in his last outing against the Rockies, allowing three earned runs on nine hits in eight innings of work as the Nats ended up losing 5-3. The Over hit in two out of three games during that series.
Colorado is 23-19-1 to the Over, while the Nationals are 20-22-3 on the Over, and they are averaging 4.6 and 3.9 runs per game, respectively.
The Rockies offense against left-handers should help ease worried minds as they rank first in batting average, second in OPS, and sixth in runs scored against southpaws.
Neither starter has been able to limit opposing lineups this season and if both teams capitalize on that, the Over should be easily reached.
Prediction: Over 8.5 (-110 at DraftKings)
Best bet
Though the Rockies have been struggling as of late, they are capable of scoring runs in bunches.
In their last 11 games, the Rockies have scored five or more runs seven times. With a lineup that includes C.J. Cron and Jose Iglesias, both of whom are batting over .300, the possibility of scoring runs is there. Cron has been especially productive with the lumber, mashing an NL-leading 12 home runs so far.
They got to Corbin once before, putting up five runs (three earned) on the lefty. With how thoroughly Colorado has smacked southpaws around over the first two months of the season, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do it again.
Pick: Rockies team total Over 4.5 (+110 at DraftKings)
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