T.M. Selection: Atlanta Braves -1.5.

I like the Atlanta Braves runline in this game against the Washington Nationals on Saturday. The Braves have been really hot in their games lately, winning 4/5 of their previous 5 games and just had a 12-2 win over the Nats in the 1st game of this series. The Braves have been hot since the start of the June, they had a very slow start to the year but they have won so many games over the last month that they have cut down on what was a 10+ game lead for the Mets in their division to just 2.5 games behind now. I think they smell the blood in the water here and I expect them to continue their surge into the All Star break as they look to take over for the lead of the division before then. The Nats are in last place in their division since they are a terrible team and have been all year, near the bottom of the league with their record overall. The Braves have also been pitching really well lately, giving up just 6 runs total in their previous 4 games. Their offense has also been really hot and I expect that to continue here with this pitching matchup. Patrick Corbin (4-10, 5.68 ERA) is up for the Nationals here and he has looked terrible this year. He has looked good in his 2 most recent starts but he has also been giving up a ton of runs in his starts all year and he has had good performances like this mixed in but it usually doesn't last long for him, and with 2 good starts in a row right now I don't see him having another in this game against this hot lineup. Kyle Wright (9-4, 2.91 ERA) is up for the Braves here and he has looked great all year, being 1 of the most reliable starters for the Braves this year. He hasn't had many bad starts this year and it isn't very often that he does. He has put up great numbers in his 2 most recent starts and I expect him to shut down this bad Nats offense here. I see the Braves continuing to roll in this game. I like the Braves runline here.

T.M. Prediction: 8-1 Braves.