Guardians vs Nationals Picks and Prediction – 5/5/2025

In Monday night MLB interleague action, the Cleveland Guardians will invade the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals. Be ready for the baseball season with all of our MLB predictions. The Guardians (20-14) have split their first 18 road games and trail AL Central Division leading Detroit by 1.5 games. On Sunday, IF Gabriel Arias went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored to lead Cleveland to a 5-4 road victory against Toronto.  

Twenty-six year old righty Luis Ortiz (2-3 4.78 ERA) will take the mound for the Guardians in this matchup. In his last start, Ortiz fired six plus shutout frames and fanned five batters during a 4-2 home victory versus Minnesota. 

The Washington Nationals are two games above .500 at home and are sitting in third place in the NL East Division standings. On Sunday, Luis Garcia Jr. homered and C.J. Abrams added a two-run double to power Washington to a 4-1 road victory against Cincinnati. SP MacKenzie Gore fanned nine batters in five innings and did not factor in the decision for the Nationals (16-19).

The Nationals will counter with twenty-eight year old righty Jake Irvin (2-1 4.01 ERA) in the series opener. Last time out, Irvin (6 IP) was tagged for eight hits and six runs during a 7-2 road loss against Philadelphia. 

Cleveland SP Shane Bieber (elbow) threw a live batting practice session on Friday and hopes to make his season debut in July. Through 34 games, Cleveland ranks 18th in OPS and 21st in runs scored. For the season, Washington ranks 16th in OPS and 14th in runs scored. Take the Nationals to win at home. Final Score Prediction, Washington Nationals win 6-3.