Washington at Atlanta

It would be impossible to take the Braves right now. They have managed one run in their last five games and it came on a HR, so they haven't even put together enough offense to push across even 1 run in 5 games. It goes deeper than that. The Braves have now lost five straight and are just 6-15 in their last 21. The offense has produced two runs or less in 13 of those 15 losses. They will be looking for a big effort from Tim Hudson tonight. Hudson has had his own problems. He opened the season in Cy Young form as the Braves won 7 of his first 9 starts. Hudson was sailing along with a 1.77 ERA and in 66 innings allowed just 48 hits, and he walked just 13 while striking out 43. His last seven starts have been mostly horrible. Hudson has pitched 39 innings and has allowed nearly as many hits, 47, as he did in his opening 66 innings. His walks have gone from 13 in 66 innings, to 13 in 39, and his strikeouts from 43 in 66, to just 15 in 39. That 1.77 ERA has now ballooned to 6.23 over his last 7 starts. Jason Bergman gets the ball today for the Nats. The Nats have been one of the best road teams in the league over the past month, as they have gone 11-5, and have a winning overall record covering their last 30 games at 16-14. Bergman has pitched almost as well as Hudson did at the beginning of the season all year. He has worked 6+ innings in each of his last seven starts and his ERA is 2.20 during that stretch. He has already held the Braves in check twice this season allowing 0 runs, and 1 run. The Braves are hitting just .150 over their last 5 games, and have just three extra base hits. We like the Nats and we think they can win even if Hudson comes up with a surprising gem.