Betting on the Braves a week ago would have not even been considered, but considering they swept the Astros and scored 21 runs to boost their offense I'm slowly thinking they are getting back in it. They'll face an old foe they have really banged up in their career in Livan Hernandez who is off extra rest which is not always a good thing. The Braves have a career .329 average off Hernandez including Chipper Jones who is hitting .354 in 65AB. Troy Glaus who finally started to hit also has a great average off Livan. The rookie Jason Heyward continues to prove he is the rookie of the year and will give Livan troubles.
Kawakami will make the start against the Nationals, and he went 2-1 against them a year ago. I expect Kawakami to bridge the game to the bullpen in the 6th inning while keeping the runs down. He's a veteran pitcher that always keeps his team in position to win. Now is about the time he really starts to throw some gems. He started off April last year with a 7.06 ERA only to follow up with a 3.03 ERA in May. Expect his first gem here tonight as the Nationals in their last 5 are hitting just .194 vs. RHP scoring 3.09 runs per 9 innings.
