Nationals vs. Braves Pick
Are the Washington Nationals going to stay hot when they wrap up a series at the Atlanta Braves Thursday night at 7:35PM EST?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Nationals are listed as a -140 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Braves are a +120 underdog and the over-under is 9.
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Pitching for Washington will be Tanner Roark (13-9, 4.43 ERA), while the Braves are going with R.A. Dickey (9-10, 4.41). Roark has a 1.30 WHIP with 154 strikeouts in 168 2/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over six innings in a 6-2 home win over Atlanta his last start. Roark has a 3.84 road ERA in 75 innings. Dickey enters with a 1.43 WHIP and 128 strikeouts over 175 1/3 innings. He gave up five earned runs on eight hits with no strikeouts and two walks over five innings in a 7-3 home loss to the Mets his last outing. Dickey holds a 4.56 home ERA over 102 2/3 innings.
Washington is 92-59 and 47-27 on the road, while Atlanta comes in at 67-83 and 34-43 at home. The two teams have split the last 10 meetings 5-5 and the total has gone over six times.
A six-run eighth inning propelled the Nationals to a 7-3 win Wednesday night. Trea Turner was 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two runs scored. Adam Lind finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Michael Taylor went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Gio Gonzalez allowed two earned runs and struck out eight in seven innings to pick up the win. Freddie Freeman, Kurt Suzuki and Jace Peterson all had a solo home run in the loss. Jose Ramirez suffered the loss in relief.
It feels as though the Nationals should be a bigger favorite than this. Roark has been in fantastic form the last few months, while the knuckleballer Dickey is beginning to show his age. It seems much more likely that Washington will knock around Dickey than Atlanta is to touch up Roark. Take advantage of the reasonable line for a team that plays great baseball on the road.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: WASHINGTON NATIONALS -140