Back Brewers Early Against Braves

Brewers vs. Braves, 7:20 ET

Yesterday was yet another 1-1 day with a very easy win in the Tigers and Angels game. The other game was a loss in the Guardians vs. White Sox that got us by a hook. All-in-all it wasn’t a bad day, but not what I’m looking for out of these articles and picks to share with you fine folks. Tonight, I’m going for a bit of a risk here with a play in the game between the Brewers and Braves.

The Brewers are probably the second-weakest division leader in baseball right now. They have a lead, but it is just 1.5 games ahead of the Reds and now 5.5 ahead of the Cubs. Something about the Central divisions in baseball really suck. In any case, Milwaukee was the favorite to win the division most of the season and is still the favorite. The question really becomes will they do anything to add to the team around the deadline? My guess is that they won’t but they have a decent enough team. The team is very similar to the Cleveland Guardians because they are built on pitching and very little hitting. The team getting Christian Yelich to be back to how he was a few years ago, or at least close to that version, might be the best addition to the team they have had. Still, one guy can’t do everything for the Brewers and the rest of the team needs to get some timely hitting. One guy that has been reliable for the Brewers is Adrian Houser. He only has 63 innings pitched for them as his season started in May and he had one start of just one inning. But, he has allowed just 27 earned runs this season and has on;y two starts this season where he allowed four or more earned runs.

The Braves are arguably the strongest team in all of baseball. They have the pitching they need to win the World Series – and that is without their Opening Day starter, Max Fried. Their hitting is outstanding and led by the likely MVP, Ronald Acuna Jr. The bullpen has been solid for the team and the fielding isn’t a concern. There really isn’t a big weakness on the team. They are doing small tinkering to their roster but that’s about it. Tonight, they have Yonny Chirinos taking the ball for them. He was claimed just five days ago off of waivers by the Braves from another strong MLB team, the Rays. Interestingly enough, one of his most recent appearances was against the Braves when he allowed just one walk over an inning of work. Surrounded by that is the reason he was released: he allowed 18 earned runs over 23.1 innings. He might be able to work the Brewers lineup one time through because none of them have ever seen him.

I like the Brewers through five in this game. I think that Houser is the better pitcher than Chirinos. The issue that I have is that the Braves are clearly the better baseball team. Still, I think the Brewers can win this full game too, but prefer the chance of a tie for us through five innings. I’ll take the Brewers at +135 through five innings.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024