Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals – 9/5/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves meet in an NL East division matchup in MLB action from Truist Park on Saturday.

The Washington Nationals will look to build on a split of their double-header with Atlanta after dropping game one by a final score of 7-1 and followed that up with a 10-9 win in game two. Game one saw Yan Gomes plate Washington’s lone RBI while Asdrubal Cabrera had a triple, Josh Harrison had a double and Victor Robles had three hits while Trea Turner knocked in a pair of hits. Game two saw Michael A. Taylor have three RBIs while Eric Thames added two RBIs and Trea Turner had a solo home run. Cabrera, Brock Holt and Wilmer Difo each had RBIs as well in the win. Austin Voth took the loss in game one after allowing five runs in 4.2 innings of work while Wander Suero got the win in relief in game two. Erick Fedde will start here and is 1-3 with a 4.71 ERA and 10 strikeouts this season. This will be Fedde’s second career start against Atlanta.

The Atlanta Braves will try to rebound from their disappointing finish to Friday’s double dip. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson each had three RBIs with Swanson belting a two-run homer and Acuna Jr. having a two-run and solo homer as well in the win. Game two saw Freddie Freeman belt a grand slam while Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run dinger. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley each had solo shots while Marcell Ozuna added an RBI double as well in defeat. Game one saw Darren O’Day pick up the win for the Braves in relief while game two saw Will Smith end up with the loss in relief to fall to 2-1 this year. Max Fried will start here and is 6-0 with a 1.60 ERA and 43 strikeouts this season. In his career, Fried is 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts against Washington.

Washington is 0-6 in their last 6 games overall and 26-9 in their last 35 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 13-3 in their last 16 games as a road dog. Atlanta is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall and 49-22 in their last 71 home games while the over is 6-2 in their last 8 games within the division.

I’ve gone back and forth on this game, but in reality, the Nationals still aren’t a very good team, let alone a defending World Series champion. On the other hand, I’m not sure if the Braves are fully up for this one and Fried’s had issues in a small sample size against the Nationals in his career. I’ll side with the over as my free pick for this game, but  my stronger play is on the side and I have that as an available premium pick that you can find here.