Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves Prediction, Pick and Preview, August 22 (8/22): MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves Prediction, Pick and Preview, August 22 (8/22): MLB

Credit: photo by Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time 7:05 p.m. EST
Braves money line -200
Braves run line -1.5 (-120)
Pirates money line +165
Pirates run line +1.5 (+100)
Over / under 8.5

 

Key stats

  Atlanta Braves Pittsburgh Pirates
Record 75-48 47-74
Road / home record 33-24 26-33
Last 10 record 8-2 2-8
Streak L1 L2
Over / under record 62-53-8 56-57-8
Runs / game 4.89 3.63
Runs allowed / game 3.92 5.04

 

Preview

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves will meet again to play a 3-game series at the PNC Park. The Braves won their last series against the Houston Astros while the Pirates lost 2 of 3 times vs Reds and are 0-4 against the Braves this season.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves get here with a 75-48 record and have won 8 their last 10 games. The team is averaging 4.89 runs per game. They're batting for .252 AVG, 596 runs scored in 1049 hits and 185 home runs, ranking #3 in offense in the league behind the NY Yankees. Austin Riley is leading the team with 31 home runs and 78 RBI while Dansby Swanson has the better batting average with .292. 

Defensively they are allowing 3.92 runs per game and rank #7 in the league. Max Fried leads the pitching staff with a 2.60 ERA, 133 strikeouts and 11 wins recorded with the Braves. 

Probable Pitcher:

Jake Odorizzi (4-5, 4.15 ERA) will be on the mound for the Braves in the 1st game of the series. Odorizzi took the loss Wednesday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings against the Mets. He struck out two. He has a 1-0 record with an ERA of 4.50 and 11 strikeouts in 2 appearances against the Pirates in his career.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates get to this game with a 47-74 record and have lost 8 of their last 10 games. The team is averaging 3.63 runs per game. They're batting for .221 AVG, 435 runs scored in 872 hits and 118 home runs, ranking #28 in offense in the league behind the Washington Nationals. Bryan Reynolds leads the team in home runs with 20, 46 RBI and batting for an average of .258.

Defensively they are allowing 5.04 runs per game and ranking #27 in the league. JT Brubaker leads the pitching staff with a 4.19 ERA, 124 strikeouts and 3 wins with the Pirates.

Probable Pitcher:

Roansy Contreras (3-3, 4.02 ERA) will be on the mound for the Pirates in the 1st game of the series. In six innings of work against the Red Sox on Wednesday, Contreras (3-3) took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits and four walks. He got three outs. He has allowed 4 runs on 8 hits with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts in 4.2 innings against the Braves in his career. He has been charged with the loss.

 

BETTING TRENDS

Atlanta Braves are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games against Pittsburgh.

Atlanta Braves are 6-0 SU in their last 6 games on the road.

Atlanta Braves are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Pirates are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games.

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games against Atlanta.

 

Prediction

The Braves continue to stay hot as they have won 8 of their last 10 games and have averaged 5.7 runs per game in their last 10 games. For this game they'll send Jake Oddorizzi who struggled in his last start allowing 5 runs in 5 innings vs Mets. The Pirates have lost 4 of their last 6 games at home and 8 of the last 10 overall. Contreras will start this game who allowed 4 runs in 4.2 inings earlier this season against the Braves. While the Braves are by far the better team, Contreras wasn't that bad in his last game vs Braves and honestly I don't trust in Odorizzi so I think this will be a close game. Take the Pirates to cover the run line.

PICK: Pirates +1.5 (+100)

Upgrade to View Prediction

Find more sports picks from the top sports bettors and MLB experts all in one place using our iOS and Google Play apps, as well as our other articles at Kingpin.pro.  We are the home for MLB picks, sports picks and sports betting.

MLB expert picks, Expert mlb picks, MLB expert picks today, Expert mlb picks today, Top mlb picks for today, Expert mlb picks free, MLB expert picks against the spread.

Winnings $84,090
last 30 days winnings $0
Yesterday winnings $0
Top Sport MLB
W-L-D 1285 - 1108 - 96
Winnings % 51%
Winnings $80,430
last 30 days winnings $2,430
Yesterday winnings $0
Top Sport MLB
W-L-D 610 - 394 - 11
Winnings % 59%