Washington Nationals vs Atlanta Braves MLB Odds, Betting Preview 9/14/18

Friday evening on the MLB diamond and a pair of teams from the National League East will square off as the Washington Nationals rumble with the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. This is game one of a three-game series and has a start time of 7:35 pm ET. The Braves have taken nine of the 16 meetings between these teams this year.

Lines:  Washington -147… Atlanta +137… Over/Under 7.5

Pitching Matchup

Getting the nod for the Nationals will be Max Scherzer and he has gone 17-6 with a 2.31 ERA in 30 starts on the year, including 8-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 13 starts on the road. In his career, he has gone 78-43 with a 3.17 ERA in 172 games (167 starts) on the road and 24-13 with a 3.09 ERA in 57 starts during Sept/ Oct. Scherzer is 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA in 21 games (19 starts) against the Braves, including 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in four starts here at SunTrust Park.   

The Braves will trot out Kevin Gausman and he has gone 9-10 with a 3.89 ERA in 28 starts on the year, including 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 15 starts in his home games. Gausman is 4-2 with a 2.32 ERA in seven starts for the Braves. In his career, he has gone 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three starts here at SunTrust Park and 8-10 with a 3.49 ERA in 35 games (25 starts) during Sept/ Oct. Gausman has gone 3-1 with a 4.34 ERA in five career starts against the Nationals.  

A Look At The Nationals

The Nationals had a nice little five-game winning streak going, but that came to an end in their makeup game against the Cubs on Thursday. That game ended up being a 4-3 win for Chicago in 10 innings. Despite their recent play, The Nats are still 8.5 games out of first in their division and 7.5 games out of a wildcard slot. It has been a lost year for a team that had so much promise at the start of the year. They will now regroup this year and the biggest question is what will they do with Bryce Harper. He struggled in the first half of the year, but cam on in the 2nd half and is currently 10th in the league in homers with 33. That will be a story to watch in the offseason.

In their 4-3 loss on Thursday, they had seven hits and drew four walks, but could score just the three runs. Victor Robles, Trea Turner, and Spencer Kieboom each drove in runs. Keiboom’s RBI was on his 2nd homer of the year. Joe Ross didn’t pitch badly in his first start of the year as he allowed just two ERs on four walks in 5.0 inning of work. He got a no-decision while taking the loss was Sean Doolittle and he is now 3-3 with a 1.79 ERA on the year.  Washington has gone 37-36 on the road and they have averaged 4.40 rpg and have allowed 3.77 rpg in those games.

A Look At The Braves

The Atlanta Braves are in great position to win their first division title since 2013 and just their 2nd since 2005. Atlanta comes in playing very well at the moment as they have won their last five games in a row to increase their lead in the National League East to 7.5 games over the Phillies and 8.5 games over these Nationals. They should walk away with the division unless they completely collapse down the stretch. The Braves come in off a three-game road sweep of the Giants and they allowed a total of just three runs in that series. They really needed to get their pitching back on track after allowing 6.00 rpg over their previous seven games.

On Wednesday, they won by a score of 2-1 over the Giants and coming up with a big effort in the game was Anibal Sanchez, who allowed just one ER on six hits and five walks while striking out four in 6.0 innings of work. He is 3-0 with a 0.58 ERA in four career starts at AT&T Park. Grabbing the win in the game was Dan Winkler, who is now 3-0 with a 3.07 ERA on the year, while Jonny Venters picked up his 2nd save. Tyler Flowers got the game-winning RBI in the 9th on an infield single. The Braves have gone 37-34 here at home and they have averaged 4.80 rpg and have allowed 4.30 rpg in those games.  

Trends

Washington is:

6-1 in their last 7 vs. National League East.

6-1 in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a winning record

1-5 in the last 6 meetings in Atlanta

The Under is 5-1 in Scherzer’s last 6 starts with 5 days of rest.

The Over is 8-2 in Scherzer’s last 10 starts vs. National League East

Atlanta is:

23-11 in their last 34 games vs. a right-handed starter.

11-2 in their last 13 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15

3-8 in their last 11 home games vs. a right-handed starter

The Over is 5-1 in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a winning record.

The Under is 15-6 in their last 21 games vs. a right-handed starter