Braves at Nationals MLB Odds & Picks: For the first time this season Washington Nationals rookie pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg gets to face the same team twice, a first for the rookie when he starts versus the Atlanta Braves Tuesday night. On June 28, Strasburg shut out the Braves for six innings and striking out seven before losing late. Strasburg, a right-hander is 5-2 on the season with a 2.32 ERA. Tommy Hanson will counter for Atlanta. The Braves right-hander is 8-6 in 2010 with a 4.12 ERA.
SPORTSBETTING.com lists the Nationals as -135 moneyline favorites for Tuesday's game with a 6.5 total. Braves backers are getting +115 odds as a road underdog. Washington is giving +165 odds on the run line (-1.5) while the Braves are giving -190 RL odds (+1.5).
Strasburg is coming off a solid outing, in which the Nationals defeated the Reds, 8-5, last Wednesday. He allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings and has now won three consecutive starts. The right-hander is 0-1 against the Braves in one career game.
Hanson's struggles this year have been control related, seen in his occasional struggles to locate his fastball and his Major League-leading 13 hit batsmen. Facing a team Hanson has pitched well against in his career (2-0, 2.94 ERA) could get him back on track.
The Nationals were swept in a three game series on the road at Milwaukee with two of the three games going OVER the the posted 9.5 run total. The Braves took two of three games of their series with the Marlins in Miami over the weekend. All three games went OVER the posted total.
The Braves defeated Strasburg the first time out. They struggled early against him but by the third time the batting order came around they had him figured out and knocked the rookie phenom out of the game. Expect Atlanta to surprise the Nationals and Strasburg in Tuesday's game.
