The Braves extended their winning streak to 12 games after a 9-5 road victory over the Nationals on Monday night. Atlanta has now climbed within five games of the NL East division-leading Mets, and face off against Washington again Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET.

There’s no question the Braves have taken advantage of a softer part of their schedule after facing the Rockies, Athletics, Pirates, and now the Nationals.

If I’m honest, I’m a bit disappointed that I haven’t paid enough attention to the defending champions during this recent run. However, that hesitancy ends today as I’ll be looking to back the Braves, who should have a superior edge in Tuesday’s pitching matchup.

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Braves vs. Nationals MLB odds

Odds provided by BetMGM

Spread: ATL -1.5 (-145) vs. WSH-1.5 (+120)

Moneyline: ATL (-250) vs. WSH (+190)

Total: Over 9 (-105) | Under 9 (-115)

Braves vs. Nationals probable pitchers

Max Fried (2.64) vs. Jackson Tetreault (0.00)

Jackson Tetreault gets set to make his major league debut. While he likely will be excited about such an opportunity beforehand, I can’t imagine he’ll be too thrilled when he looks across the field into the Braves dugout. Tetreault could be in for a rude awakening against an Atlanta team that, over the last 30 days, ranks third in slugging (.471) and first in ISO (.210).

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What concerns me about Tetreault is he doesn’t seem to be a highly rated prospect in the Nationals organization. Teams generally have a plan of when to promote a player, but that’s not the case in this scenario. The Nationals are trying to cobble together a pitching staff after Stephen Strasburg returned to the IL after just one start.

To make matters worse, the Nationals might’ve wasted an outing with their top two relievers after Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey pitched the final two innings of Monday’s series opener. According to Matt Weyrich of NBCSports.com, when Nationals manager Davey Martinezasked was asked why he used both pitchers in a game in which Washington trailed by five runs, he responded by saying, “because that was all we had.” 

The reality is the Nationals don’t have much to offer right now in terms of pitching quality, and according to Rotowire, they have five relievers who’ve thrown at least 39 pitches over the past three days. In contrast, the Braves have only one reliever (Jesse Chavez) who threw over 39 pitches during that span.

This is a disastrous spot for the Nationals, which explains why the Braves are as high as a -225 favorite. And although I think this game will be all about the Braves’ offense, it won’t hurt to have a former 17-game winner like Max Fried on the mound.

Fried will make his 13th start for Atlanta as he looks to win a seventh straight decision. The Braves left-hander has a 6-2 record and carries a 2.64 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. His advanced numbers also mirror his traditional stats, as evidenced by his 2.90 FIP and 2.93 xFIP.

This is a game where I’m particularly bullish on the Braves, and given the Nationals’ bullpen woes, I like Atlanta to cover the runline spread for the full game.

I’ll be risking two units on Atlanta at -1.5/-145. I’ll also divide a half-unit between Atlanta to score over 6.5 runs at +150 and 7.5 runs at +220.

Braves vs. Nationals picks

Braves RL -1.5 (-145) 2 units

Braves Team Total Over 6.5 runs (+150) 0.25 units

Braves Team Total Over 7.5 runs (+220) 0.25 units

(Odds from BetMGM)