Atlanta Braves vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, August 20 (8/20): MLB

Atlanta Braves vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, August 20 (8/20): MLB

Credit: photo by Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time 7:15 p.m. EST
Braves money line -165
Braves run line -1.5 (+130)
Astros money line +139
Astros run line +1.5 (-150)
Over / under 7.5

 

Key stats

  Atlanta Braves Houston Astros
Record 74-47 77-44
Home / road record 41-23 38-26
Last 10 record 9-1 7-3
Streak W1 L1
Over / under record 60-53-8 44-69-7
Runs / game 4.89 4.48
Runs allowed / game 4.38 3.31

 

Preview

The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves will play the 2nd game of the series at the Truist Park. The Braves took the win 6-2 in the first game of the series and are 10-4 in their last 14 games playing at home vs Astros.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves get here with a 73-47 record and have won 9 their last 10 games. The team is averaging 4.89 runs per game. They're batting for .252 AVG, 585 runs scored in 1030 hits and 183 home runs, ranking #3 in offense in the league behind the NY Yankees. Austin Riley is leading the team with 30 home runs and 75 RBI while Dansby Swanson has the better batting average with .292. 

Defensively they are allowing 3.97 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:

Spencer Strider (7-4, 3.04 ERA) will be on the mound for the Braves in the 2nd game of the series. Strider picked up the win in Monday's 13-1 rout of the Mets, allowing one run on three hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out four.

Houston Astros

The Astros get here with a 77-43 record and have won 6 of their last 8 games. They're averaging 4.48 runs and batting for .246 AVG, 554 runs scored in 987 hits and 164 home runs, ranking #13 in offense in the league behind the Colorado Rockies. Yordan Alvarez leads the team batting for .303 avg with 31 home runs and 77 RBI. 

Defensively they are allowing 3.31 runs per game and ranking #2 in the league. Justin Verlander leads the pitching staff with a 1.95 ERA, 138 strikeouts and 15 wins recorded for the Astros.

Probable Pitcher:

Cristian Javier (7-8, 2.96 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros in the 2nd game of the series. Javier earned the win against Oakland on Sunday, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out six and walking three over six innings. He hasn't pitched against the Braves in his career.

 

BETTING TRENDS

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Houston's last 9 games on the road.

The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Houston's last 11 games when playing on the road against Atlanta.

Atlanta are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games.

The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Atlanta's last 16 games against Houston.

Atlanta are 7-2 SU in their last 9 games at home.

 

Prediction

The Astros struggled offensively in the first games of the series scoring only 2 runs and will have another tough game as Spencer Strider will take the mound for the Braves who's having a great season and just dominated the Mets in his last start. Cristian Javier will start for the Astros who has been solid lately allowing only 3 runs in his last 18 innings pitched. The Braves are on fire right now and it won't be easy to beat them at home. Take the Braves.

PICK: Braves ML (-165)

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