You can’t win them all, but the Atlanta Braves sure are trying. They started this month winning 14 straight games and improved to 17-3 in June following a walkoff win over the Giants on Wednesday. Sunday Night Baseball will have the defending champs hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rematch of last season’s NLCS. Atlanta won all three games at Truist Park to take the series in six games extending their home winning streak over LA to five. The Dodgers got a bit of revenge by taking two of three from the Braves back in April.
First pitch for this NL showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves is set for 7:08 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 26, 2022. The game will air live on ESPN from Truist Park. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game of the MLB season.
MLB Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
When is a team that’s nearly 20 games over .500 considered a failure? When you’re the Los Angeles Dodgers, that’s when. With sky high expectations nothing short of winning is acceptable. And while the Dodgers are winning almost 63 percent of their games most feel they should be doing better. Taking a closer look you realize that they’ve probably overachieved considering what’s happened this season.
Injuries to the pitching staff have disabled the group. Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney have returned after missing time. And that was a blessing since Walker Buehler just went on the IL. The bullpen hasn’t been immune, either. Despite all that the staff has been one of the best in baseball sporting a 2.90 ERA and 1.07 WHIP through 67 games. They average more than 5.0 runs per game even with Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner hitting below .215. They played below the closing total in two of three games with Atlanta earlier in the season and the UNDER is 33-27-7 in all games.
Thanks to a blistering month of June the Braves made up six games in the standings to put some pressure on the Mets in the NL East. They actually have a higher winning percentage (.571) through 70 games than they did last season (.547) when they won the World Series. Winning 85 percent of your games in a month tends to elevate the numbers. While they’ve been on a heater since June 1, the Braves are still in the red overall, down $272.
The long ball can keep teams in games and nobody in the NL does it better than Atlanta. Five players have double-digit dingers with three more in striking distance. It’s helped the Braves score nearly five runs per game and cash the OVER 37 times.
Probable Pitchers
Tony Gonsolin (9-0, 1.58 ERA) has almost singlehandedly saved the rotation with his brilliant pitching. He already matched his career-high in starts and although he put up good numbers over his first three seasons, nobody saw this coming. He’s had several great outings, but his best may have been against the Braves on Apr. 20. He tossed six innings of one-hit ball on an economical 83 pitches. The Dodgers won the game 5-1 and they are 10-3 in his starts.
For the first time in four starts he allowed more than one run when the Reds clubbed a pair of homers off him. He allowed just one other hit and faced 19 batters in five innings. Gonsolin keeps opponents off the bases allowing only 35 hits over 68.1 innings for a 0.82 WHIP. Opponents are hitting just .150 against him with a .506 OPS.
We’ll get an idea of what Spencer Strider (3-2, 3.40 ERA) is made of in this one. Inserted into the rotation at the end of May he was a revelation going 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over his first four starts. Last time out wasn’t so good. Strider lasted just 3.2 innings yielding six hits and six earned with his ERA going up a full run in a game the Braves lost 12-10.
There’s no question about Strider’s stuff. He averages 13.6 SO/9 but he’s wild in the zone and hittable when that happens. The Dodgers have a book on him after his last start and patience at the plate will interrupt Strider’s concentration.
Dodgers at Braves MLB Odds Pick
As good as they’ve been the Dodgers haven’t peaked offensively with a number of their stars still struggling. One that struggling is Freeman, who’s anchored the lineup hitting around .300 all season. One thing the Dodgers do is mash fastballs and Strider’s best pitch is the heater. My money is on the Dodgers winning that matchup.
MLB Odds Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers / OVER
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