Braves/Nationals:

It seems to be a common theme, that a lot of my plays involve perceived team mismatches. Today will be no different, as we have a long time out of contention club going up against a division leader. Tonight’s story is a little different, between the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, as both teams are not really playing with any pressure tonight. The Atlanta Braves were never expected to be in a playoff spot this season, and have been operating under natural circumstances for a while now. At this current moment, the Braves have been in solid offensive rhythm, driving in 44 runs in the past 7 games. They will look to carry their momentum against Tanner Roark, who is a guy they have seen a lot of, being in the same division.

Washington on the other hand may have had their division clinch on their mind earlier last week, but all that has been put to rest as they are now officially division winners of 2017 as of this week. In giving up 8 runs in each of their last two games, the Nationals could really care less about winning or losing right now. Today, Washington will not be dressing the most intimidating lineup, but they will be plugging high prospect Victor Robles back into the lineup to further break himself into the majors as a hitter. The Nationals have always had good splits against the sinker pitch, and Mike Foltynewicz is a sinker first guy, and has been struggling overall in the scheme of things.

Likewise, the Braves can also hit sinkers well, and this is Tanner Roark’s bread and butter. Neither pitcher will have any motivation to prepare extra hard for this one.

Expect both bullpens to be highly experimental tonight, so a lot more runs may come in here. With high humidity levels in the Nation’s capital tonight, we can expect many fly balls to carry as well.

OVER 8.5 -105   2*