Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals – MLB, September 13, 2020

The Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals will wrap up their regular-season series Sunday at Nationals Park in Washington.

These two NL East foes split their first eight meetings in 2020, while the Braves are 11-6 in their last 17 encounters with the Nats and 7-3 in their previous ten visits to Washington excluding Saturday’s game.

The Braves were 26-19 on Saturday, topping the NL East standings 2.5 games ahead of the second-placed Phillies and three games ahead of the third-placed Marlins. The 17-26 Nats were sitting bottom of the table and five games behind the bottom wild card in the National League.

If you are interested in more MLB tips and predictions, go to our daily betting page, while I bring you the best Braves vs. Nationals betting pick and odds for Sunday afternoon with the first pitch at 12:35 PM ET.

The Nationals will start Max Scherzer, and the seven-time All-Star is the reason why bookmakers favor the hosts over the best team in the NL East.

Furthermore, the Nats are in dire straits and desperately need a win, so keep tracking the best online sportsbooks in case the bookies make some changes.

The Braves’ offense is carrying the team in 2020, scoring 5.98 runs per game (1^st in the majors) while batting .270 (2^nd) and slugging .492 (1^st). Freddy Freeman has been a monster so far, hitting 10 homers along with 43 RBI, while Marcell Ozuna, Ronald Acuna, and Adam Duvall combined for 38 home runs and 92 RBI.

Only a few days ago, the Braves have dismantled the Marlins 29-9 in one of the best offensive displays in baseball history.

However, the Braves have three starting pitchers on the injury list including Mike Soroka and Max Fried. Kyle Wright will get the starting nod Sunday, and he’s 0-4 on the season. The righty has a terrible 8.05 ERA and 2.21 WHIP in five starts and 19 innings of work.

Wright meets the reigning champs for the first time this term, and he’s 0-1 with an 11.12 ERA in one start and a couple of relief outings against the Nationals in his career.

On the other side, the Nationals are tallying 4.86 runs per game, enough for the 11^th-best in the MLB. They have the fifth-best batting average of .266 and the 10^th-best slugging percentage of .440, but the reigning champions are yielding 5.23 runs per game (22^nd).

Max Scherzer is 4-2 with a 3.40 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 69/17 K/BB ratio over his first nine starts and 50.1 innings of work. He’s been terrific last time out, blanking the Tampa Bay Rays over seven innings while punching out eight in Washington’s 6-1 victory.

The lefty is 10-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 22 starts and two relief outings against Atlanta in his career. Scherzer will face off against the Braves for the first time this year.

Kyle Wright is one of the Braves’ top prospects, but he’s struggled mightily this season, while the Nationals destroyed him last year. Although the Nats are 7-22 against the right-handed starting pitchers in 2020, I have to take them in this one.

The Braves’ powerful offense should have a tough day in the office, facing off against Max Scherzer, while the Nats have enough firepower to hit well against Wright.