Game: Atlanta Braves @ Cleveland Guardians
Time: 7:10 p.m.
Odds: Braves -136, Guardians +126
Total: 9
When they begin a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians tonight, the Atlanta Braves will try to extend their winning streak to nine games. Atlanta now has a nine-game lead in the National League East after winning 16 of its last 17 games and 23 of its last 26.
Atlanta will rely on right-hander Bryce Elder (6-1, 2.44 ERA), who enters the series opener with the second-lowest ERA in the majors, to continue its winning streak. Elder has a 1.42 ERA over his last three starts and has won two of the three. He won his most recent start 6-2 last Tuesday against the visiting Minnesota Twins, allowing just two runs and four hits over six innings.
Few could have predicted the 24-year-old’s inclusion on the NL All-Star team after his 6-5 record and 4.46 ERA in 18 appearances (17 starts) with Atlanta’s Triple-A team, the Gwinnett Stripers, last year.
In each of the previous 20 games, the Braves have provided support for their pitchers by hitting at least one home run.
The Guardians lost a four-run lead against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, but they came back to win 8-6 in the tenth, improving to 4-2 on their recently finished road trip. In the first game of the series, Cleveland will depend on rookie right-hander Gavin Williams (0-0, 2.84 ERA), who is 23 years old.
Williams is ranked as the top prospect in Cleveland and 12th overall in the majors by MLB Pipeline. He will make his third start in the big leagues tonight. Most recently, Williams threw seven scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. He walked one, struck out six, and gave up just one hit. The Guardians eventually scored two runs in the ninth inning to secure the victory.
In the first two games of his career, Addie Joss was the only other pitcher in team history to throw at least seven innings while limiting opponents to one or fewer hits. That occurred on April 26, 1902, during his MLB debut.
Williams has a big arm with a fastball in the upper 90s and two breaking balls. He has never faced Atlanta and Elder has never pitched against Cleveland. The Braves are also 6-1 SU in their last seven away games. The Under has hit in four of the last six Braves games.
Cleveland is 9-4 in its last 13 games. The Guardians are also 8-4 SU in their last 12 games at home. They are only 2-4 the last six times they have hosted the Braves. The total has gone Over in five of the last six games between the two teams. That’s because in the last three games, the two teams combined for over 14 runs a game. Interestingly, in the last ten head-to-head meetings, Atlanta and Cleveland have combined to average just 8.3 runs per game.
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