The set-up: It's been a year of inconsistencies for the defending champs and life won't get an easier this week, as Chicago visits Washington to take on the 45-30 Nats, who lead the NL East by nine games and are seven games better on the season than the 38-37 Cubs. The good news foe Chicago fans is that no one in the NL Central has done much in 2017, so the Cubs open the new week just 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers. The Cubs head north from Miami for this series, after splitting a four-games series with the Marlins, leaving the Cubs just 8-17 in their last 25 on the road. The Nats were 37-20 in games played through June 6 but over the last few weeks, are a modest 8-10.

The set-up: Eddie Butler (3-2 & 4.19 ERA) gets the ball in this first game for the Cubs and will be opposed by the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez (7-1 & 2.96 ERA). Butler is win-less in his last three starts (he's 0-1 and the team 1-2) and hasn't made it through six innings since tossing six scoreless innings in his Cubs debut back on May 12. He allowed only one run and five hits Wednesday against San Diego but he ran up a high pitch count (92) and left without recording an out in the fifth. Butler has faced the Nationals only once, allowing four runs over six innings in a loss in 2015 (0-1 & 6.00 ERA). Gonzalez is well on his way to an eighth straight season with double-digit wins, entering 7-1 after 15 starts in 2017 (Nats are 9-6). He has won four straight decisions, with his last loss coming back on May 8 at Baltimore. He has posted five straight quality starts and is coming off a win at Miami in which he allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts. Gonzalez is 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA in nine starts in his career against the Cubs (teams are 4-5).

The pick: The Cubs continue to struggle, so I'm making the Nats a 10* play in this first of four games.