Washington at Atlanta
Posted on | May 12, 2006 | No Comments
The Washington Nationals are in town to face the Atlanta Braves and John Smoltz. Smoltz and the Braves are heavy favorites in this one (-220). If you are interested in the Braves, look at the run line, where you can halve the line. The Braves on the run line are only -110 tonight. The Braves have lost their luster of years gone by. So far in 2006, they are sitting at 15-19 and the Braves are 5-5 over their last ten games. The last appearance for Smoltz was a 13-3 trouncing over the Mets and Lima.
The Washington Nationals are 12-23 this season and one of those “worst” teams in the National League. Over their last 18 games, they have only won five. They are currently on a short two game losing streak. Their longest losing streak so far this year has been six. Ten of their thirty-five games have been decided by one run (28.5%). In contrast, the Braves have played many one-run games (47%). However, when playing opponents with losing records, the Braves have only played a handful of games against poor opponents (teams at least a few games under .500). In those games, the Braves have never had a one-run game.
A month ago, Smoltz pitched one game at Washington. He went five innings and gave up three runs. Tonight he faces them at home where he has a 1.69 ERA. Last season he faced Washington five times and gave up an average of 2.2 runs per game. Meanwhile, Ramon Ortiz is pitching for the Nationals. His away ERA is 5.63 and he has not faced Atlanta this season. He did face Atlanta three times in 2005 and he averaged under five innings pitched and almost 5 earned runs in each outing.
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