AJ Smith-Shawver continued his excellent season by blanking the Nationals over 6 strong innings. He allowed a pedestrian 2 hits while striking out 6 as our 4* ELITE play on the Atlanta Braves coasted to a 5-2 victory. The Braves (22-22) sit in 3rd place in the loaded NL East behind the Mets and Phillies but help is on the way. Their two best players are getting very close to a return as star Ronald Acuna was scheduled to begin his rehab assignment at AAA on Thursday and Ace Spencer Strider is on track to make his first start of the season next week in Washington. While being 6 games back in the toughest division in baseball is no picnic, Atlanta has the talent and pedigree to make a run if they can just Get Healthy and Stay Healthy. Adding 4 Units brings our rolling 80 day record to 123-91 for Plus 97.21 Units.
4* ELITE – (MLB) Atlanta -200:
Our numbers put this line at Atlanta -248 which makes this much value a 4* ELITE auto-play. The Braves are coming off a loss and have a tremendous pitching advantage with AJ Smith-Shawver being the hottest pitcher in the National League. In two May starts he has an 0.66 ERA, even taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning vs. the Reds on May 5. The Nats win last night snapped a seven-game losing streak and we see another one starting today. Washington’s Trevor Williams has been a gas can carrying a 7.02 ERA across his last three starts. Look for the angry Braves to take out some frustration at HOME this afternoon behind the red hot Smith-Shawver.