The Atlanta Braves take on the Red Sox for the second in a short 2-game series at Fenway Park on Wednesday night. We released a free pick on the Atlanta Braves on our Instagram yesterday for game 1 with them ultimately cashing for us, and our followers, with a 9-7 victory in the 11th inning. Star 3rd basemen Austin Riley delivered the game-winning hit brining in Harris II and Acuna Jr with an incredible slide. Kyle Wright (13-5, 3.22) is set to start for the Braves whilst Nick Pivetta (8-8, 4.51) heads to the mound for Boston. Here is my complete prediction and breakdown
Atlanta Surge
The Atlanta Braves have been one of the best teams in baseball all season long. The defending champs are thrilling to watch with all-stars on both sides of plate. The pitching staff is throwing a combined 3.67 ERA (6th in the majors), 1.22 WHIP (9th in the Majors), striking out 9.58 batters per 9 innings (3rd in the majors). The teams defence is also one of the best in the league ranking 4th with a 0.988 FLD%.
The real story for Atlanta has been their star-studded offense. The team is 2nd in the league with 167 homers on the season, 3rd with a .440 SLG and 11th with a .249 batting average. Austin Riley leads the team with 30 home-runs, and 74 RBI’s. Matt Olson has punched in 70 RBI’s and 21 homers. The Braves have the ability to put up runs in bunches with 9 different hitters punching in 30+ RBI’s this season.
Taking the mound for the Braves is 26-year-old Kyle Wright, who comes in with a 13-5 record over 128.2 innings of work. Wright has had a solid season for Atlanta with a 3.22 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 124 K’s. He did struggle in his last start where he allowed 6 runs on 7 hits against the Mets. Prior to this game however Wright had gone 7 games straight allowing 3 runs or more just once.
Struggling Boston
The Boston Red Sox are not having the magical season they wanted coming into this matchup with a 54-57 record. With their loss in game-one the Red Sox have now dropped 5 of their last 6. The struggles come on both sides for Boston, batting just .236 in their last 10 as a team and pitching a combined 5.30 ERA (6.39 for their relievers).
For the season Bostons offensive numbers are good, posting a combined .253 average (6th), .314 on base percentage, scoring 4.5 runs per game. The teams best hitter by far is 3rd basemen Rafael Devers who leads the team with a .310 batting average, 24 long shots and 60 RBI’s.
Taking the mound for this one is Nick Pivetta who has a roller-coaster season for the Sox. Pivetta so far is 8-8 posting a 4.51 ERA, 1.33 WHIP over 123.2 innings of work. He has allowed less than 7 hits just once in his last 9 starts. As mentioned the Red Sox bullpen has struggled immensely this season, with the team throwing a league 25th 4.39 ERA allowing 4.8 runs per game.
Going Different Ways
This matchup features two teams going in two different directions. Pivetta has allowed the 7th most hits and 5th most runs in the American League this season. I expect the Atlanta offense to score a handful of runs against Pivetta before facing the Red Sox bullpen, which has the worst ERA since the all-star break and used 7 different relievers during Tuesday’s loss. Atlanta should continue their beatdown in Boston with a win on Wednesday night.
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