Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Picks and Prediction for Wednesday August 12 2026

The Chicago Cubs will face the Washington Nationals on Wednesday evening at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 PM ET, with MLB.TV providing coverage. Chicago enters the matchup at 69-50 overall and 34-26 on the road, while Washington is 59-61 overall and 26-34 at home. At the time of this writing the odds were not released. Bettors looking for more baseball analysis can also check out free MLB picks.

Starting Pitchers

Chicago is expected to start David Peterson, who enters at 6-7 with a 5.35 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 106 innings. Peterson has allowed 116 hits and 11 home runs while striking out 88 and walking 43. Washington is expected to counter with Miles Mikolas, who comes in at 3-9 with a 5.89 ERA and 1.41 WHIP over 113 innings. Mikolas has surrendered 136 hits and 26 home runs while recording 56 strikeouts against 23 walks.

Cubs Bring Strong Recent Form

Chicago enters Wednesday at 69-50 and has won four of its last five games. The Cubs recently beat Kansas City 10-2 after also picking up wins of 6-4, 3-2 and 7-6 during the same stretch. Their only loss in the last five came by a 6-3 score. Chicago has also played well away from home with a 34-26 road record.

The Cubs are batting .250 with 614 runs, 1,022 hits and 148 home runs. They own a .339 on-base percentage and .417 slugging percentage, giving them one of the stronger offensive profiles in this matchup.

Chicago also owns the better overall pitching numbers. The Cubs carry a 4.05 team ERA and 1.25 WHIP while opponents are batting .244. Those figures compare favorably with Washington's pitching staff and give Chicago a more balanced statistical profile entering Wednesday.

Nationals Carry Plenty of Offensive Upside

Washington comes into this matchup at 59-61 overall and has won four of its last five games. The Nationals enter after three straight victories over Cincinnati, scoring 20 total runs during that stretch. Their only loss in the last five came against Philadelphia, while the other victory was a 10-4 extra-inning win.

The Nationals are batting .251 with 643 runs, 1,034 hits and 171 home runs. Washington owns a .328 on-base percentage and .439 slugging percentage, with advantages over Chicago in runs, hits, home runs and slugging percentage.

The problem for Washington remains its pitching staff. The Nationals own a 4.71 ERA and 1.39 WHIP while opponents are batting .259. That becomes especially important in a matchup where the expected starter enters with a 5.89 ERA and has allowed 26 home runs.

Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals Picks and Prediction

Pick: Chicago Cubs Moneyline

Washington has been swinging the bats well and owns the stronger power numbers, but Chicago has the better overall record, road record and pitching profile. The Cubs have also won four of their last five and face a Washington starter carrying a 5.89 ERA. With Chicago holding the clear advantage in team ERA and WHIP, take the Cubs on the moneyline.

Pick: Over 9.0

Both starting pitchers enter with ERAs above 5.00, and the two offenses have combined for 319 home runs this season. Washington has scored 643 runs while Chicago has produced 614, and neither expected starter has shown enough consistency to inspire much confidence in a low-scoring game. Take the over if the total is set at 9.0.

This game was completed prior to play on Tuesday.