March 27, 2026Updated March 28, 2026, 12:17 a.m. ET
At Wrigley Field on Saturday, the Chicago Cubs (0-1) play the Washington Nationals (1-0), with first pitch at 2:20 p.m. ET.
The Nationals (+180 underdog on the moneyline to win) visit the Cubs (-217). The Cubs will give the ball to Cade Horton versus the Nationals and Miles Mikolas.
Brad Lord (2.1 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 K) earned a win in the Nationals’ 10-4 victory over the Cubs Thursday. Joey Wiemer led the way offensively, going 3 for 3 with a home run and an RBI. Matthew Boyd (3.2 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 7 K) took the loss for the Cubs.
Here’s what you need to get ready for Saturday’s Cubs vs. Nationals game, including viewing options.
Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals odds, line and spread
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 12:17 a.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
Favorite: Cubs (-217, bet $217 to win $100)Underdog: Nationals (+180, bet $100 to win $180)Over/under: 9.5Cubs vs. Nationals: Game time and live stream infoGame day: Saturday, March 28, 2026Game time: 2:20 p.m. ETLocation: Chicago, IllinoisStadium: Wrigley FieldTV channel: MARQ and Nationals.TVCubs 2025 stats and trendsCubs betting recordsLast season, the Cubs were favored 120 times and won 77, or 64.2%, of those games.Last season Chicago won 13 of its 17 games, or 76.5%, when favored by at least -217 on the moneyline.The bookmakers’ moneyline implies a 68.5% chance of a victory for the Cubs.Chicago and its opponents hit the over in 78 of 170 games with a total last season.In 170 games with a spread last season, the Cubs were 81-89-0 ATS.Cade Horton (Cubs probable starter)Horton starts for the first time this season for the Cubs.The 24-year-old righty started and threw three innings when he last appeared Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025 against the New York Mets.Last season he finished with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.085 WHIP over his 23 games, putting together an 11-4 record.Cubs batting statsThe Cubs ranked sixth in Major League Baseball with 223 home runs.With a .430 team slugging percentage, Chicago ranked sixth in the majors last season.Among all 30 MLB clubs, the Cubs ranked 13th with a .249 team batting average.Chicago was among the highest-scoring teams in the majors, ranking fifth with 793 total runs last season.With an OBP of .320 last season, the Cubs ranked 10th in baseball.Chicago showed patience at the plate last season with the sixth-best rate of strikeouts per game (7.9) among MLB offenses.Nationals 2025 stats and trendsNationals betting recordsThe Nationals came away with 59 wins in the 140 contests they were listed as the underdogs in last season.Last year, Washington won eight of 23 games when listed as at least +180 on the moneyline.The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Nationals have a 35.7% chance of coming away with a victory in the contest.Washington and its opponents hit the over in 80 of its 161 games with a total last season.The Nationals went 79-82-0 against the spread in their 161 games with a line set by sportsbooks last season.Miles Mikolas (Nationals probable starter)Mikolas will make his first start of the season for the Nationals.In his last appearance on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, the 37-year-old righty started the game and went five innings against the Chicago Cubs.Last season he finished with an 8-11 record, a 4.84 ERA and a 1.318 WHIP over his 31 games.Nationals batting statsThe Nationals averaged one home run per game to rank 24th in MLB action with 161 total home runs last season.Last year Washington ranked 23rd in MLB with a .389 slugging percentage.With a .242 batting average a year ago, the Nationals ranked 21st in MLB.Last season Washington scored the 20th-most runs in baseball (687 total, 4.2 per game).The Nationals ranked 25th in baseball last season with an on-base percentage of .304.The team struck out 8.3 times per game, the No. 14 mark in the majors.
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