Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves Betting Preview, Matchup Odds

Two disappointing teams expected to battle for the NL East crown this season will square off in the opener of a three-game series Monday when the Atlanta Braves (9-9) host the Washington Nationals (7-12) as home underdogs on the MLB odds.

In fact, despite losing their fifth straight game on Sunday, the Nationals surprisingly remain 15/4 favorites on the odds to win the NL Pennant at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark even though they are tied for last in the division right now with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Washington has won only two road games so far this season, beating the Phillies and Red Sox in series finales earlier this year after dropping the first two to avoid being swept. The Nationals could not avoid a sweep on Sunday, though, against the Miami Marlins, falling 6-2 to continue their offensive struggles.

The Nationals totaled two runs or fewer in each of their past four games since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 on April 22 in the first game of their current skid.

Meanwhile, the Braves have not been much better than Washington lately, dropping five of their last six games on the baseball betting lines at the sportsbooks following a 5-4 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday.

Atlanta had started the season with five consecutive wins and was 8-4 prior to that setback, which cost the team its first series victory since taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays in an interleague series between April 17 and 19.

Monday’s starting pitching matchup pits Doug Fister (1-0, 2.37 ERA) of the Nationals against Eric Stults (0-1, 4.50) of the Braves. Both pitchers have walked away with no-decisions in two of their three starts this year, each of which has resulted in a loss.

Fister is coming off his worst outing of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals last Wednesday, giving up four earned runs and seven hits, two of which were home runs, with two walks and three strikeouts in six innings of an eventual 7-5 home loss.

Stults had his best start of the year last time out on the road against the Mets, allowing just one run and four hits in six innings with no walks and a season-high five strikeouts, but he did not get much offensive support in what turned out to be a 3-2 loss.

Washington has won seven of the previous 11 meetings with Atlanta according to the OddsShark MLB Database after losing five in a row in the series early in 2014. The last three games between the teams have all gone under the total along with six of the past eight. There were six runs or fewer scored in each of those games that finished under.