I generally hate backing a pitcher to do well against a team they just faced, but this one may play to our advantage. Perez was downright awful in his last start against the Nationals, but he threw the fastball way too much as he consistently was behind in the count and abandoned his breaking pitches. Thus, he became too predictable, didn't tally many whiffs, and the Nats took advantage. Today he could benefit from an extreme pitchers umpire, and a Nats lineup that will look a bit different than the last one he faced. Perez still has solid underlying strikeout metrics against lefties (16% swinging strike) and he will likely see six lefties tonight, while the three righties all have higher-strikeout rates. Ladder 6,7,8.