The Nationals are respectable when either Josiah Gray or Mackenzie Gore is on the hill. Gray beat the Pirates on Sunday and I can see Gore defeating the Cubs at home on Monday.

Gore is a promising second-year major leaguer with a 3-1 mark and 3.00 ERA. He has 35 strikeouts in 27 innings.

The Cubs have fallen back to reality. They are 2-6 after a 12-7 start and just were swept three games in Miami by the Marlins.

Lefty Drew Smyly gets the start for Chicago. He's 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA. Smyly is due for regression. He's had an ERA of at least 4.45 during four of his past six seasons.

The Nationals rank third in batting average against southpaws batting .294 against them.

I find the Cubs overpriced in the role of road favorite in a pitching matchup of Smyly versus Gore. So I'll take the Nationals.