Braves to halt skid vs. Gonzalez, Nats?
Only one MLB team remains winless, and it has the added misfortune of doing battle with one of the hottest squads going.
Atlanta and Washington continue their three-game series tonight, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch at in the nation’s capital. The host Nats are unmistakable betting favorites in the eyes of online sports book BetDSI.
Seeking its best start in 15 years, Washington (4-1) sends Gio Gonzalez to the hill for the first time in 2016. The southpaw limped through spring training, issuing 12 walks over 19 innings. He’ll likely get plenty of support, though, from an offense that banged out six runs and 11 base knocks in Monday’s 6-4 victory. New No. 5 hitter Daniel Murphy spearheaded the charge with a two-run blast off Bud Norris.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez prays that Jhoulys Chacin, who went 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in four starts for Arizona last year, can somehow stop the bleeding. Atlanta’s (0-6) slugging percentage of .299 barely measures up to many an organization’s batting average. Its 6.67 ERA ranks second-from-the-bottom in the bigs, and a loss this evening would be the club’s 18th in the past 23 meetings with the Nationals.
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Gonzalez’s frequent command problems explain why Baker’s waiting until the season’s sixth game to deploy the veteran. The Braves should therefore have a better opportunity to hang around and rattle Washington’s relief corps a little. We still anticipate the visitors to fall, but it’ll be an eventful finish.
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