The Atlanta Braves are set to play host to the St Louis Cardinals for the opening matchup of a 4-game series starting on the 4th of July. The Braves have been of the best teams in baseball since June and now find themselves 2nd in the NL East with a 46-34 record. The Cardinals are playing well this season too, with a 44-36 record for 2nd in the NL Central. Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10 games and are both coming off losses. Who will bounce back? Here is my complete prediction and breakdown.
Cardinals Playing Steady
The St Louis Cardinals are one of the more balanced teams in all of baseball. They are 3rd in runs per game (4.8), 5th in runs allowed (3.9) and find themselves only 1 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals also have the 4th best run differential in the league at +69, the Yankees are first with +164.
As mentioned the Cardinals are good on both sides of play, ranking 3rd in Runs per Game with 4.8, 5th in Runs Allowed (3.9), 5th in batting average (.254) and 13th in home runs (88). Whilst the pitching staff is throwing a combined ERA of 3.80, they struggle to strike batters out posting just 7.40 K/9 which is 27th in the league. 1st basemen Paul Goldschmidt is having a stellar season leading baseball with a .346 batting average and 1.06 OPS. He is also second in RBI’s with 65 whilst Nolan Arenado is also playing well with 17 home runs and 55 RBI’s.
For this game the Cardinals are sending Dakota Hudson to the mound. Hudson is on the weaker side of the Cardinals starters and is having a mixed season. His overall stats for the season include a 6-4 record, 3.83 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. He also has walked 36 batters which is nearly as much as he has struck-out with 44. In his eight road starts this season he is 2-3 with a 4.57 ERA. In his last 3 games he has only managed to go 5 or less innings and allowed 4+ hits each time.
Braves Look to Bounce Back After Losing 8thInning Lead
The Atlanta Braves had a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th in their last game against the Cincinnati Reds. After 7 strong innings from Charlie Morton (1 hit and 10 K’s) the Braves allowed 3 runs, before evening it in the 9th and falling to a walk off single by Albert Almora Jr. Despite this loss the Braves continue to play well and show good signs of another deep playoff run.
The real story of the Braves this season has been their offence. They are 8th in the MLB with 4.75 runs per game, 2nd in home runs with a staggering 119 and 1st in slugging with .441. Austin Riley is having a great campaign posting a team best 48 RI’s and 20 home runs. The bats don’t stop there with the Braves having 6 players blasting 10 home runs or more.
Kyle Wright is set to make the Start for the Braves on Monday and will look to build off his last start where he allowed just 1 run to the Phillies over 7 innings of work. For the season Wright is posting a 9-4 record on 92 innings played, with a 3.03 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. The Braves bullpen is posting a 3.75 ERA.
Braves on Top
The Cardinals have lost 4 of the last 5 road starts by Dakota Hudson this season. Compared to Atlanta which has won each of the last 5 starts made by Wright. The Cardinals have struggled when playing winning teams on the road winning just 13 of their last 18. Both teams may be batting well in their last 5 but I expect Hudson to have a harder time commanding his pitchers and the big Braves bats will light him up.
Take the Braves.
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Thanks for reading, Dave Covers Spreads