In pre season games one of the most important things is defense intensity and the offensive line and the Seahawks have two major advantages there. The Packers offensive line is horrible yet again and I think it will play a huge factor in this game as the Seahawks love to get aggressive up front.
I will back the far superior pitcher here in Gonzalez whose 3.96 ERA on the road is very misleading since he gave up 10 ER in Detroit. The Nationals are actually 20-8 in his last 28 road starts and 20-8 in his last on 4 days rest. The Royals are struggling and have quickly gone from contenders to pretenders in a matter of a week. They are scoring just 2.05 runs per 9 vs. LHP in their last 10 and I don't see it getting easier tonight as Gonzalez has been solid during night starts 87.2 IP and a 2.16 ERA.
On the flip side Chen has been extremely lucky and posts a 1.96 ERA at home, but his raw stats indicate his overall ERA should be 4.84. Chen is not your classic lefty where LHB struggle against him they actually have a higher OPS and average if you go back his last three seasons. Since coming into the starting role he's struggled to get guys out with a pitch and has gotten lucky by stranding runners. The Nationals have won 9 of their last 13 and look to keep that going here as they have scored 7.24 runs per 9 vs. LHP in their last 5 games alone.
