Written By: The Persian
The Atlanta Braves clash against the Washington Nationals in the first of a brief two-game set starting Tuesday night inside Nationals Park from Washington, District of Columbia. They toss out the first pitch at 6:45 pm.
Bookmaker has installed the Braves -160 on the ML.
The Braves have shown they are a resilient team. They have overcome some significant injuries yet have stayed within striking distance of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East for most of the season. They will not catch the front-running Phillies, but they may have put themselves in a position to claim an NL Wild Card spot. They need a late-season push, and if they find a way to get in, they can do some damage.
They are a playoff-tested team with veteran guys who know how to win. On offense, they are paced by slugger and DH Marcell Ozuna, who has hit 37 home runs while driving in 98 runs. Atlanta is batting .241 on the season, which is 17th in the majors, and they have scored 610 runs this season. They can score runs in bunches and know they cannot slip up against their rival, the Nationals.
They will hand the ball over to Reynaldo Lopez, who sports a record of 8-5 with an ERA of 2.04. He has only won one out of his last eight starts on the mound but can also use some help from his offense. The Braves will have some opportunities to score runs against the Nationals.
The Nationals are in a rebuilding stage, and they know it. Their fanbase also understands that this team needs a ton of work. They must figure out how to add some power to their lineup and really figure out who the ace of their staff is.
On offense, the Nationals are led by C.J. Abrams, who has collected 123 hits while cracking 19 home runs and driving in 64 runs. He is hitting just .238 on the season, and the Nationals as a team are batting just .245. The team has hit just 120 home runs on the season.
Washington will toss out MacKenzie Gore, who has posted a record of 8-11 and has an ERA of 4.32. He has fanned 155 in 143.2 innings of work for Washington, with a team ERA of 4.36. The offense must bail out poor pitching, and we are still determining if they will do that against the Braves.
The Nationals are 2-3 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 42-32 in their road games against the number. The totals have gone over in three out of their last five games, and the totals have gone over in 32 out of their last 69 games at home.
The Braves are 3-2 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 36-37 in their road games against the number.
