Thursday night baseball and we will see the Washington Nationals take on the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta. First pitch is scheduled for an 7:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally. Current Betting Odds, according to Sportsbook.ag, have Atlanta listed as the favorite. 

Current Odds

Washington    +145
Atlanta            - 160

Over/ Under: 7 O -120

Analysis: The Washington Nationals finally ended a long losing streak in their rivalry with the Atlanta Braves. An outstanding pitching performance helped them finally beat the Atlanta Braves, but the Washington Nationals still have injury concerns and an offensive slump holding them back. The triumph did not come without some concern for the Nationals, who saw star right fielder Bryce Harper leave with a bruised left side in the sixth inning. Harper is considered day-to-day and told reporters that he wants to play Thursday, but he was in obvious pain after a check-swing in his final at-bat. He had already walked and scored on Ian Desmond's two-run homer, the only runs Zimmermann would need in helping Washington pick up its first win since Saturday. Washington's depleted lineup has managed just seven runs and a dismal .165 batting average over its last four games. Following an unimpressive start to his Washington career, Haren took a step forward with six solid innings in a win over Cincinnati on Saturday. He gave up two runs on six hits to improve to 2-1 at Nationals Park. Haren did not walk a batter and struck out five for the third time in five starts. The six innings was a season high for Haren. He has not gone a full seven in his last 11 appearances. Haren has not faced Atlanta since 2010, but he owns a 7.31 ERA in three starts at Turner Field.

Atlanta has been shut out five times already, including twice in its last six games. The Braves did end their streak of six straight games with at least 10 strikeouts, but they fanned nine times and remain far ahead of any other team in the National League in that category. B.J. Upton, who went 0 for 3 on Wednesday and is hitting .138 on the season, has struck out 11 times but has five homers and 10 hits in 31 career at-bats against Haren. Atlanta, which ranks near the top of the majors in home runs and strikeouts, has whiffed 80 times but only has three home runs over the last seven games. Kris Medlen's phenomenal run of dominance over the second half of 2012 and the early portions of 2013 has hit a bit of a roadblock. After allowing a total of three earned runs in his first three starts, he's been reached for eight in his last two outings and surrendered a career-high 10 hits Saturday in Detroit, including a pair of home runs. Medlen had gone 16 straight starts without allowing more than three earned runs before the Tigers got to him for five in just 5 1/3 frames. He is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 11 appearances (two starts) against the Nationals.

Pick: I like the Over in this one. Kris Medlen has not bee as solid of of late, as he allowed 8 ER's in his last 2 starts. The Nat's offense is struggling, but they are due to break out and I see it happening here.  The Atlanta Offense is struggling some as well, but they do average 4.36 rpg at home for the year and Dan Haren has been flat out awful for the Nats. In 5 starts this year he has a 6.29 ERA, including a 9.72 ERA on the road. How bad has he been? Well he allowed the Marlins 3 ER's (7 overall) on 7 hits in just 4.1 innings. Pretty bad if you can't last 5 innings vs Miami's pop gun attack. He will have all sorts of problems with this Atlanta offense tonight. I expect both offenses to break out some and get us at least 8 in his one. 

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Baseball Betting Tips from Chuck Edel & Johnny Detroit
Chuck Edel is a well respected gambler / handicapper who appears on numerous radio shows and is frequently featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal. He sits down with Johnny Detroit and goes over some of his personal MLB betting tips.