The Atlanta Braves (95-58) take one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league on the road to face the Washington Nationals (53-99) at Nationals Park on Monday for the opener of a three-game series. The Braves are in the midst of a seven-game road trip. They split their last series against the Phillies, taking the finale 8-7 on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. Ronald Acuna Jr. was 1 for 1 with one run and one RBI. Dansby Swanson went 3 for 6 with a home run and three RBIs. The Nationals are playing the first of seven games at home after concluding a difficult six-game road trip (2-4). They lost two of three against the Marlins in their last series, taking the finale 6-1 on Sunday at loanDepot park. CJ Abrams went 3 for 4 with a double, two runs, and one RBI.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Braves have won 12 of 16 in the season series between the NL East rivals, although they dropped a close one 3-2 in their last meeting on Wednesday at Truist Park. Andres Machado threw one scoreless inning out of the bullpen to get the win, and Kyle Finnegan picked up his 11th save with a scoreless ninth.
ON THE MOUND
For Washington, righty Cory Abbott (0-3, 4.85 ERA) will toe the rubber. His only prior start against the Braves this season was his last time out, when Abbott gave up four runs over four innings in a 5-2 road defeat on September 19. He gave up six hits and walked two in the loss.
AT THE PLATE
The Atlanta offense is averaging 4.9 runs per game for the season, third best in MLB, with a slash line of .254/.317/.443. Austin Riley leads the team in OPS at .893. The third baseman is slashing .280/.351/.542 with 37 home runs, 92 RBIs, and 85 runs over 151 games. Over the last five games, though, Atlanta has averaged only 3.4 runs a game thanks in part to diminished slugging (.356). Against righties like Abbott this season, the Braves have a .750 OPS, fifth highest in the league. Riley also is the team’s most potent producer against right-handers with a .814 OPS in 444 at-bats. Washington is slashing .249/.312/.380 for the season and averaging 3.8 runs per game, fifth lowest in MLB. Lane Thomas leads the team with a .722 OPS. The center fielder has 17 home runs, 52 RBIs, and 58 runs scored with a slash line of .247/.303/.419.
HOME AND AWAY
Atlanta is 43-32 in away games in 2022, scoring 4.9 runs per game while allowing 4.1 runs. Washington has gone 24-50 at their home ballpark this season, averaging 3.7 runs per game while surrendering 5.2. Atlanta is 9-1 in the last 10 games between the teams at Nationals Park with an average scoreline of 7.1-3.8.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Braves are second in the NL East, one games behind the division-leading Mets. They currently occupy one of the Wild Card spots, sitting first with a magic number of one. The Nationals are fifth in the NL East, 43 games behind the Mets.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Atlanta Braves
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
