John Smoltz Vs. Jason Bergmann -
This is the type of fundamental mismatch i like to take. Braves are starting their ace, whose won 10 of 11 decisions. In contrast, Nationals starting a rookie in his MLB starting debut. They expect only 2-3 innings out of him before they go to the bullpen. This scenario played out last Wednesday when Dontrelle Willis started. Nats went to the bullpen for 8 innings & got toasted 12-1.
In addition the nats bats are very weak. Only the Braves bullpen will give them a chance to win.
The risk in the play is that Bergmann is an unknown factor. He's pitched 5 shutout innings as a reliever against the Braves, so maybe he pitches well & deep?
But this is a pretty stacked game. The line is too low when one sees the -300 + lines out there against KC. Nationals aren't much better at this point.
Good luck!
This is the type of fundamental mismatch i like to take. Braves are starting their ace, whose won 10 of 11 decisions. In contrast, Nationals starting a rookie in his MLB starting debut. They expect only 2-3 innings out of him before they go to the bullpen. This scenario played out last Wednesday when Dontrelle Willis started. Nats went to the bullpen for 8 innings & got toasted 12-1.
In addition the nats bats are very weak. Only the Braves bullpen will give them a chance to win.
The risk in the play is that Bergmann is an unknown factor. He's pitched 5 shutout innings as a reliever against the Braves, so maybe he pitches well & deep?
But this is a pretty stacked game. The line is too low when one sees the -300 + lines out there against KC. Nationals aren't much better at this point.
Good luck!