Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers Preview: Julio Teheran vs. Clayton Kershaw

It’s Trade Deadline day, but things have been quite so far for the Atlanta Braves and they’ve got a final game to be worried about with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A win here would be nice to salvage the series and stay as close as possible to the Washington Nationals–who are currently 1.5 games ahead of the Braves in the division. Unfortunately, the offense will be going up against the best pitcher in baseball at the moment: Clayton Kershaw.

At least our best guy is on the mound too.

The Pitching Matchup:

Julio Teheran has been fantastic this season and is making strides toward becoming a legitimate major league ace. Teheran has put up a 2.71 ERA, 3.35 FIP and 3.56 xFIP in 149.1 innings so far with a 7.96 K/9 ad 1.87 BB/9. He’s been the teams best and most consistent starter this season and having him go up against Kershaw is the best scenario for the team here.

As good as Teheran has been Kershaw’s numbers make Julio’s look a bit silly. He’s striking out the most batters of his career (11.30 K/9) walking the fewest of his career (1.20 BB/9) and also career bests in ERA, FIP and xFIP. He’s got a 1.76 ERA, 1.74 FIP and 1.91. We could easily be seeing the best season of his career at this point and while it gives the Braves next to no chance of scoring runs until the last few innings, it should be fun to see these two guys pitch against eachother.

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The Particulars:

Date: July 31, 2014

Start Time: 10:10 pm ET

TV Channel: SportSouth, MLB Network (National)

Radio: 680 AM/106.7 FM (Local in Atlanta), Full list of Local Affiliates

Live Stream: MLB.tv (Click Here, $)

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The Predictions:

I took another jump ahead in the prediction department last night after I sided with Zack Greinke and the Dodgers. Brad’s reasoning for taking the Braves was solid–he expected Alex Wood to have a great game, and he did–but the offense and bullpen did nothing to help his cause.

Here’s what our records look like at the moment:

• Carlos: 4-1
• Brad: 2-3

Tonight, he’s taking the smart pick and going with the best pitcher and, quite honestly, the better team. It’s no fun to sit here and both predict the Braves to get swept, but until they show us something else–or come up against a mediocre arm–that’s what’s going to happen.

Please feel free to sound off in the comments with your predictions for the game and feel free to rub it in our faces when you beat us on twitter (@ATLBeatBlog).