Giants vs. Nationals odds and prediction for Friday, July 21 (Washington is Strong Underdog Play)

The San Francisco Giants are 7-3 in their last 10 games which is good enough to vault them into a wild card spot in the National League.

Tonight, they begin a three-game series against the Washington Nationals, who are playing for nothing but pride at this point in the season.

That means the Giants are the obvious bet to make tonight, right? Wrong.

Let me tell you why.

Giants vs. Nationals odds, run line, and total

Giants vs. Nationals prediction and pick

Sure, the Giants record has been solid lately and they're sitting inside the wild card picture in the National League, but there's more than meets the eye with with San Francisco squad.

You might be surprised to find out that over the past 30 days, they rank second last in the Majors in OPS at .629 and dead last in that time frame in batting average at .215. Obviously, the Nationals outrank them in those two areas. For example, Washington comes in at 14th in OPS over that time frame at .743.

So, for the Giants to be this big of favorites on the road, there has to be a huge pitching advantage, right? Wrong again.

Alex Wood of the Giants has just a slightly better ERA than Jake Irvin of the Nats, 4.53 compared to 4.96.

Now, I have to admit the bullpen for the Nationals is a cause for concern. They've been terrible lately, sporting a bullpen ERA of 7.38 over the last 30 days. Still, I just can't resist taking a shot on this Washington team as a +130 underdog at home.

The Giants' bats are cold. Let's take advantage.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change