The Toronto Blue Jays (49-58) and the Washington Nationals (54-53) take the field tonight in our nation’s capital looking to keep a potential wild card spot within their respective sights. The Nats sit just one game out of the final National League Wild Card spot. The Jays have a bit more work to do as they are five back of that final Wild Card spot in the American League.
Toronto opened the series with a 3-2 win last night. The game featured the return of future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer (2⅔ innings, four hits, one run, three walks, and four strikeouts on 75 pitches) to Washington, where he spent six-plus seasons and helped lead the Nationals to the 2019 World Series championship. Washington struck first in the second inning when Luis García Jr. lined an RBI double to right field, scoring Nasim Nuñez for a 1-0 Nationals’ lead. Toronto answered immediately in the third. Luis Urías launched a solo homer to center field to tie the game, and later in the inning Myles Straw scored on an RBI double by Ernie Clement to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 advantage. Toronto added what proved to be the decisive run in the fourth inning. Kazuma Okamoto reached and eventually came around to score when Straw delivered an RBI single, extending the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-1.
The Nationals pulled within a run in the fifth when Andrés Chaparro crushed a solo homer to left field. Washington threatened several times after that but could not find the tying run against Toronto’s bullpen. Mason Fluharty earned the victory, while Louis Varland picked up his 22nd save despite some ninth-inning traffic.
Right-hander Shane Bieber (2-1, 4.70 ERA) takes the bump for Toronto tonight. The former Cy Young winner has been working his way back from elbow issues. His last three starts have been exceptional highlighted by a seven-inning, one run outing last Thursday against the Rays. Cade Cavalli (7-4, 3.58 ERA) is expected to start for the Nationals. He has been nearly as good as Bieber in July allowing seven earned runs over 20.1 innings.
Lets dive further into tonight’s game and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Blue Jays vs. Nationals
- Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2026
- Time: 6:45PM EST
- Site: Nationals Park
- City: Washington, DC
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Nationals.TV, Sportsnet
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The Latest Odds: Blue Jays vs. Nationals
The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Toronto Blue Jays (+119), Washington Nationals (-143)
- Spread: Blue Jays +1.5 (-175), Nationals -1.5 (+144)
- Total: 8.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers – Blue Jays vs. Nationals for July 28
- Blue Jays: Shane Bieber
Season Totals: 30.2 IP, 2-1, 4.70 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 22K, 12 BB - Nationals: Cade Cavalli
Season Totals: 110.2 IP, 7-4, 3.58 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 127K, 34 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Blue Jays vs. Nationals
- James Wood has hit in 4 straight (5-16) and in 6 of his last 7 games (8-29)
- CJ Abrams has 7 HRs in his last 8 games
- Dylan Crews is 8-17 over his last 5 games
- Ernie Clement is 5-13 over his last 3 games
- Kazuma Okamoto has struck out at least once in 9 of his last 10 games
- George Springer is 5-13 over his last 3 games
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Blue Jays vs. Nationals
- The Nationals are an MLB-best 64-43 on the Run Line this season
- The Jays are 47-60 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 53 times in Toronto’s 107 games this season (53-50-4)
- The OVER has cashed 59 times in Washington’s 107 games this season (59-43-5)
Brewers face Angels on Sunday Leadoff
Don’t miss the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Angels on MLB Sunday Leadoff beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Expert picks & predictions: Blue Jays vs. Nationals
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Blue Jays and the Nationals:
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