Friday, June 7, 2024 at 6:45pm EDT
Written by Paul Biagioli
The second of a three-game series in the NL East takes place on Friday when the Atlanta Braves (34-25, 2nd NL East) take on the Washington Nationals (27-34, 3rd NL West). The first game was played on Thursday night (Note: This article was published before Thursday's results). Atlanta just finished up a two game series with the Red Sox, where they split the games in Boston. Washington just got swept by the Mets in New York. The Nationals currently hold a 3-1 lead in the season series with Atlanta. The Braves will be starting Chris Sale (3.06 ERA) and the Nationals are going with Jake Irvin (3.39 ERA). First pitch will be at 6:45 from Nationals Park in Washington, DC.
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Braves Split at Fenway
The Atlanta Braves only play the Boston Red Sox four times this season, with each team hosting a short two-game series. The Braves were close to a season sweep after winning their first two games at home, and winning the first game in Boston, before going down big in the finale. Atlanta started Spencer Schwellenbach who was making just his second start of his career, and it showed. He gave up six earned runs in 4.2 innings as Atlanta went down 9-0 on Wednesday.
The Braves only had one hit in their loss to Boston, and that came from third baseman Austin Riley. He has been batting second in the lineup with three home runs and 19 RBIs while batting .232 at the plate. Marcell Ozuna had an off night, but he is having an excellent season. Ozuna leads the team with 17 home runs, 53 RBIs, 67 hits, and has the top batting average at .309. Ozuna takes the DH spot and bats third in the lineup. Behind Ozuna is power-hitting first baseman Matt Olson, he has nine home runs and 33 RBIs while batting .234. Their leadoff man is Michael Harris II, the center fielder has five home runs and 19 RBIs to go with eight stolen bases from the top of the lineup.
Veteran pitcher Chris Sale will get his 12th start of the season, the 35-year old left-hander has an excellent 8-1 record, and the team has gone 4-1 over his last five starts. He has an ERA at 3.06, he is 10th in the major leagues in strikeouts with 82, and has just 10 walks and six allowed home runs on the year. Sale has not faced the Nationals this season. In his last start, he gave up eight earned runs to the Athletics in just four innings in a loss.
Nationals Swept by Mets
The Nationals just hosted a three-game series against the Mets, and lost all three on their home field. They were outscored by New York 23-11 over the series, and have lost ground in the standings as they are now barely hanging on to third place. The Nationals have just a half game lead over the Mets in the division, the Nationals now take on the Braves, and the Mets take on the Phillies as the NL East will go at each other for the next few days. Washington only scored one run in their final game against New York, which came from a sacrifice fly from Joey Gallo in the 8th inning when they were already down nine runs.
Gallo is their first baseman who has five home runs and 11 RBIs on the year. He was moved to 8th in the batting order, as his batting average has dropped to .164 this season. The most consistent hitter on the team has been Luis Garcia Jr., he has the team's top batting average at .266, and has added five home runs and 26 RBIs. Garcia is their second baseman and has been batting third in the lineup. Their top home run hitter is their young shortstop CJ Abrams, he has nine on the year with 26 RBIs. Abrams is their leadoff hitter, has the most hits on the team with 55, and has eight stolen bases. Eddie Rosario has taken their cleanup spot in recent lineups, the right fielder has seven home runs and 20 RBIs, but is batting just .181 on the year.
Jake Irvin will get his 13th start of the season in this one. He is a 27-year old right-hander with a 3-5 record, while the team has gone 1-4 in his last five starts. His ERA is at 3.39, with 60 strikeouts to 12 walks, with six allowed home runs. Irvin just pitched against the Braves on May 28th, he had a strong showing with 10 strikeouts over 6.0 innings with no earned runs, but the Nationals still lost 2-0.
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Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
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Chris Sale will return back to form in this one, as he has been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball this season, and is coming off an awful performance. Sale just have up eight earned runs in four innings against the Athletics, but that will not be a sign of more things to come. He only gave up two earned runs in the entire month of May, which counted for five different games. His ERA would look much better without that Oakland game, and he will be able to shut down this Washington offense. Several of the top hitters in Washington's lineup are hitting under .200 at the plate, including Joey Gallo and cleanup hitter Eddie Rosario. Jake Irvin is a strong pitcher, but he has been getting no run production from his offense, which is why the team is 1-4 over his last five starts. He shutdown Atlanta's offense last time he saw them, and still lost, as Washington did not score a single run. The Braves will start to make up ground in this season series, and grab a win here in game two on Friday.
Take Atlanta to win and cover 1.5 runs.
Prediction: Braves -1.5
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Full-Game Total Pick
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This game has the under written all over it. Chris Sale is on the mound for Atlanta, and minus his last start, he has been excellent this season. If you remove the Oakland game, then the team has won their last seven games with Sale on the mound, three of which were shutouts, and he has only given up six runs over those seven games. Irvin has been strong as well, he pitched six scoreless innings the last time he faced Atlanta, and has not given up over two earned runs in his last three starts. Washington only scored four total runs over their last two games, and their inability to score has been a problem all season. The Nationals are only 24th in run production, and the Braves are lower on that list than expected, as they are only 18th in the league in runs scored. Two good pitchers on the mound for this division rivalry, it will stay under the total.
Take the under.
Prediction: Under
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Written ByPaul Biagioli , "Paul Biagioli"
Paul has been a sports fan his entire life, and was an All-Conference basketball player at The University of Scranton. He is currently a high school basketball coach and a mathematics teacher with a Master’s in Business Administration. This unique combination gives Paul the ability to find mismatches from a coach’s perspective while having the ability to analyze statistical data to spot advantages. Paul will provide you with an array of statistics, trends, and analytics to prepare for any match-up. Follow Paul for up-to-date analysis and all your betting needs. We are thrilled to have Paul on our team.
