The two best teams in the National League go head-to-head tonight when the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers have the best record in the majors and are second-best in MLB when coming off a loss at 27-14 SU in 41 games.
The Braves opened as slight -115 favorites with a total of 10.
STANDOUT STATS
- Mike Soroka will be pitching for the Braves and while he sports a 2.32 ERA and 1.08 WHIP for the season, he hasn’t been as sharp at home. Soroka’s ERA in eight home starts is 4.08 and opposing batters are hitting .286 off of him. In his last four home starts, he’s given up 16 earned runs over 21.2 innings (6.79 ERA).
- Kenta Maeda gets the call for the Dodgers and his road starts this year have been ones to forget. Maeda owns a 5.66 ERA in 12 road outings and has given up three or more earned runs in eight of those games. He has yet to face the Braves this season but in his lone start at SunTrust Park in 2017, he was lights-out and tossed seven innings and only allowed two hits and no earned runs.
- Both teams are coming off a loss and have been dangerous to the opposition in that spot. The Dodgers own the second-best record in MLB when coming off a loss at 27-14 SU in 41 games while the Braves are fifth in MLB in that spot at 30-20 SU in 50 games.
- One of the weaknesses for the Braves since the all-star break has been their bullpen. Atlanta’s relievers own a 6.86 ERA since July 12th which is the second-worst in MLB in that span. The Braves’ bullpen also ranks last in opponent batting average and third-worst in walk percentage (11.5 percent) in that stretch.
- The Dodgers have been on a nice run lately at 12-3 SU over their last 15 games and their offense has been leading the charge. They’ve hit 34 home runs (fourth in MLB) and have a .875 OPS (third in MLB) in that stretch.
- Not to be outdone, the Braves’ offense has also been hot since July 30. They’re 10-6 SU in 16 games and rank fourth in home runs (33 homers) and fourth in OPS (.862) in that span.
- The OVER is trending for both of these teams as its hit in eight of the Braves' last 12 games while it also hit in four of the Dodgers’ last five contests. When these teams faced each other for a three-game set back in May, the OVER hit in two of them and the third game was a push (average combined score: 10.3).
My Best Bet For Dodgers vs Braves
OVER 10
With this game being essentially a pick’em, I found it hard to find an edge to choose either team on the moneyline. So, I’ve opted with the OVER 10 and it’s mainly because of how great these offenses have been this season and the dumpster fire known as the Braves bullpen. Atlanta's relievers have not been up to snuff and even if Mike Soroka has a quality start, I don’t trust his bullpen to keep this game in check.
