Miami Looks To Sweep Atlanta In Wednesday’s Series Finale

The Miami Marlins have won their last two games against the Atlanta Braves since going 1-6 in their previous seven meetings. The Marlins can complete the series sweep with another road win Wednesday night in Atlanta.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Atlanta opened as a -140 favorite with the Marlins going off as +120 underdogs, and that line has remained the same through the early morning of game day. The total has moved down half a run from its opener at 9.5 runs to 9 runs. Miami won 5-4 as a +200 underdog on Monday and 8-0 as a +105 underdog on Tuesday.

Starting Pitchers Analysis

Pablo Lopez had his first bad start of the season last Friday when he allowed five runs in four innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. Before that game, Lopez owned a 2.10 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP across six starts, allowing two earned runs or less and pitching five innings or more in all six of those outings. In his one start against Atlanta this season, Lopez pitched six innings and struck out eight batters while allowing only two runs.

The Braves acquired Tommy Milone ahead of the trade deadline to add some pitching depth. Milone allowed seven earned runs in only 2.1 innings pitched against the Philadelphia Phillies in his first start with the Braves. However, he settled down to allow only one run in four innings in his last start against the Washington Nationals. Atlanta won both of those games.

Miami News & Notes

Miami has won three of its last four games on the road, continuing a strange trend in which the Marlins play better on the road than they do at home. The Marlins are 19-18 on the season with a 2-9 record in Miami and a 17-9 record away from home. The team will need to turn this trend around soon as it starts a stretch of 15 straight home games on Thursday.

Despite being in the middle of a rebuild, the Marlins have been playing competitive baseball in 2020. The offense has only produced 4.32 runs per game, but a team ERA that ranks ninth in the majors at 4.03 has kept Miami in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Atlanta News & Notes

Ronald Acuna Jr. kicked off September with a bang, batting .417 with four home runs, seven runs and five RBIs in four games against the Nationals. But through the first two games of this series, Acuna is 0-for-7 with only one run. Overall, the Braves are just 1-4 over their last five games since going 5-0 over their previous five games.

Due to their recent skid, the Braves are now only 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies and 2.5 games ahead of the Marlins for the top spot in the National League East. Atlanta’s soft schedule down the stretch makes it unlikely that the Braves will miss the playoffs, but they could lose their grasp on the division lead if they don’t start stringing together some wins again.