Take This Side As Sale And Snell Square Off

Braves vs. Giants, 9:45 ET

It turned out to be a decent day yesterday as I was able to split my two plays. Kyle Freeland turned in another respectable outing for the Rockies yesterday and held the Braves to three runs through five innings (he only pitched 3.2). It was certainly sweaty enough, but I was glad we could escape with a victory. To be honest, I am at my best when I am finding spots like that. Those little pockets where you have a good angle on a pitcher and can predict a small portion of the game. I actually had the Rockies moneyline in a parlay yesterday and thought that was dead, but they came back to win. I still lost the parlay, but it was surprising to see Colorado escape with a win. We are going to stick with another Braves game here as they take on the Giants. 

If you wanted to describe the Braves with a Tom Petty song it really wouldn't be much of a challenge. Free fallin' is the only way to describe Atlanta lately. They keep bouncing between the final Wild Card spot and out of the playoffs. At the start of the All-Star Break, they were 53-42. Since that point, they've gone 8-14. They split a series against the Marlins, then were swept by the Brewers (all at home) and then just lost a series to the Rockies. The good news for the team is that they scored 23 runs over the three games against Colorado. However, those games all came in Coors Field which can inflate offensive numbers. Today they look to get a push against a Giants team that is just 1.5 games back of the Braves for that final Wild Card spot. This is a great way to open the series as they have Chris Sale on the bump. Sale has been Cy Young caliber this entire year. He has the most wins in the league with 13, the 4th best ERA at 2.75, 6th most strikeouts, and the 7th best WHIP at 1.00. There are only two games this year from Sale where he has allowed more than two earned runs. He has been equally good on the road and at home. He also has been better at night than during day games. Sale faced San Francisco once already this season, going six innings allowing one run on three hits while striking out nine hitters. Overall, the Giants are actually decent against him with a .268 batting average and nine of their 11 hits going for extra bases. 

May 20, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

If we are describing the Braves with a song, let's describe the Giants with a quote or phrase from a movie. "Hanging around, hanging around. Kid's got alligator blood. Can't get rid of him." You can probably use this description for San Francisco for multiple seasons now. It seems like no matter what happens with this club or what type of roster they field they at least have a shot at the playoffs. The Giants are above .500 and playing solid baseball, and they are very good at home this season, going 11-games over on their home diamond. Since the All-Star break, they've won 14 games while losing just nine. They haven't lost more than two games in a row since July 24th, and already have two four-game winning streaks. Tonight they put Blake Snell on the mound. He is finally starting to look like the Cy Young winner from last season. Over his past six starts, he has a no-hitter, and three total games where he allowed one hit or fewer and no earned runs. With five consecutive quality starts, you can tell that he is certainly rounding into form here when the Giants need him most. His ERA is a bit ugly at 4.31, but a 1.10 WHIP is solid. Braves hitters have done well against him in the past, going 18-for-61 against him over their careers. 

The hitters are going to be in for a very long night tonight. There are certainly some players that are worth betting on or playing in daily fantasy, but this is not going to be an easy game for the lineups. Sale is one of the best pitchers in the league this season, and Snell is showing why the Giants wanted to hang onto him at the trade deadline. For this game, I think you have to back the Giants. They are playing better baseball, play well at home, and the Braves are really struggling. Back the Giants to win.