Pittsburgh Pirates vs Washington Nationals Picks and Prediction for Friday July 3 2026

By: Eddie Kline Published 07/03/2026, 01:20 AM ET

Pirates Preview

In Friday night MLB action, the Pittsburgh Pirates 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 Pirates (44-44) are a game below .500 on the road and are 11 games off the pace in the NL Central Division race. On Thursday, leadoff hitter Jake Mangum collected three hits and scored a pair of runs to spark Pittsburgh to a 6-1 road victory against Philadelphia.

Thirty year old right-hander Mitch Keller (6-5 4.87 ERA) will take the ball for the Pirates on Friday. In his last start, Keller (6 IP) gave up five hits and four runs (3 ER) during a 9-4 home victory versus Cincinnati.

Nationals Preview

The Washington Nationals have won four of their last five games and are seven games out of first place in the NL East Division standings. On Wednesday, OF James Wood reached base four times and delivered a three-run blast during a 10-2 road triumph against Boston. 3B Curtis Mead went 2-for-5 and scored a pair of runs for the Nationals (45-43), who improved to 28-18 on the road.

The Nationals will counter with thirty year old left-hander Foster Griffin (8-2 2.93 ERA) in the series opener. Washington has won Griffin’s previous three starts and he has allowed just three runs (2 ER) across his last 20 plus frames.

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Pirates vs Nationals Pick

Pittsburgh OF Oneil Cruz has landed on the 10-day injured list with a hand injury and is not expected to return until after the All-Star Break. Through 88 games, Pittsburgh ranks 2nd in OPS and 4th 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 6-4.

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