Betfair.net

The Atlanta Braves enter this contest only 2 games behind the Wild Card lead, which has caught most people by surprise. Especially since the Braves started off the month of September with only 2 wins and 7 losses. But since then, they have been 15-2, including a win Monday night against the Marlins and are clearly the hottest team in the National League.

Overall this year, the Marlins are the team with the better win record, winning 8 of the 15 games they've played against one another. They have a great chance on Tuesday night when they throw ace Josh Johnson to the mound who will seek his 16th win of the season.

Johnson was set to start this past weekend, but the flu kept him out of action, so he'll definitely be well rested as he seeks 200 innings pitched this year. He's 4-2 lifetime against the Braves with a very respectable 2.81 ERA. He's also a terrific 8-2 on the road this year. On the other side, Tim Hudson is set to pitch against the team he beat earlier this year when he returned to the mound for the first time since January. He's also coming off a strong outing last week against the Mets where he pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 earned runs and got the victory to put him at 2-1 on the season with a 3.56 ERA.

While its difficult to gauge how good Hudson has been this year since he's only been back a short while, he definitely looks like he hasn't lost a step and should step up in this critical game for the Braves.

Since the Fish are throwing their ace on the mound, it's difficult to get a clear cut read on this game, so I offer you the following trends between these teams. As a team the Marlins are 7-0 in their last 7 games during game 2 of a series and are an impressive 14-3 in Johnson's last 17 starts during game 2 of a series. They are also an impressive 33-13 in Johnson's last 46 starts. And take this one for what it's worth, but they happen to be 1-4 in Johnson's last 5 Tuesday starts.

On the flip side, the Braves are 13-0 in their last 13 games versus a right handed starter and are themselves 19-7 in their last 26 during game 2 of a series. Dating back some years though, they are an impressive 10-3 in Hudson's last 13 starts versus the Marlins, so it appears they have their number. This is a very difficult game to predict. However, with the incentive of extra rest, I expect Johnson to be at his best and deliver a win for the Fish on Tuesday and temporarily halt the Braves' winning streak.