The Guardians make the trip to Atlanta to face the Braves. These two teams are both playing very well to start the year with each team currently the top team in their respective leagues with the Guardians in the AL and the Braves in the NL. Our MLB odds series has our Guardians-Braves prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.

The Guardians have been great this season at 18-7 and they have won six of their last seven games. Their bats have been great and rank as a top-10 unit in the league. Their pitching has been a top-five pitching staff as well. Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, and Josh Naylor have carried the Guardians behind the plate. Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Triston McKenzie, and Carlos Carrasco have held down the fort with Shane Bieber injured. The Guardians have been great to start the year but they get a tough matchup against the Braves in this game and series overall.

The Braves have come out very strong to open the season. They are 17-6 and have won seven of their eight games. They have picked up where they left off last season with the best offense in the MLB up to this point in the season. Their pitching is a top-10 unit in the MLB. Max Fried, Reynaldo Lopez, Chris Sale, and Charlie Morton have all had varying levels of success up to this point. On offense, Marcell Ozuna has dominated at the plate early on for Atlanta, with Orlando Arcia, Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Michael Harris II are all not far behind. The Braves are playing like the best team in the NL already with their combination of offense and defense.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Guardians-Braves Odds

Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-137)

Moneyline: +146

Atlanta Braves: -1.5 (+114)

Moneyline: -174

Over: 8.5 (-115)

Under: 8.5 (-105)

How to Watch Guardians vs. Braves

Time: 7:20 pm ET

TV: Bally Sports Great Lakes / Bally Sports South

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Guardians Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Guardians are going with Tanner Bibee on the mound and he has a 2-0 record, a 4.44 ERA, and a 1.60 WHIP. Bibee has allowed 12 runs on 27 hits with 12 walks and 26 strikeouts. In his five appearances, the Guardians are 5-0. In his last start, he pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in a Cleveland win. This will be a huge challenge against an offense as good as the Braves.

The Guardians are a very good team behind the plate. They are eighth in team batting average at .253 after finishing last season with a .259 batting average which was top five in the MLB. The offense is led by Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, and Josh Naylor lead the way in most of the batting categories. Steven Kwan leads the way in batting average at .346, in OBP at .386, and in total hits at 36. Josh Naylor leads the way in home runs at six and Ramirez leads in RBI so far at 23. They get a decent matchup against Charlie Morton on the mound for the Braves.

Why The Braves Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Braves are going with Charlie Morton to start on the mound. He has a 2-0 record, a 4.70 ERA, and a 1.26 WHIP. He has allowed 12 runs on 19 hits with 10 walks and 22 strikeouts. He has appeared in four total games so far this season and the Braves are 3-1 in those games. In his last start, he pitched six innings allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Last season, Morton was solid for the Braves with a 14-12 record, 3.64 ERA, and a 1.43 WHIP.

The Braves' offense has been the best in the MLB so far up to this point in the MLB. They currently have a .283 after finishing atop the league with a .276 batting average. Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II have both opened the year playing great and have led the way in almost every batting category for the Braves. Ozuna leads the way in batting average at .344, in home runs at nine, in RBI at 29, and in OBP at .416. Michael Harris II then leads the way in total hits at 32. The Braves offense can compete with anyone in the league but this is a tough matchup against Tanner Bibee on the mound.

Final Guardians-Braves Prediction & Pick

I think these two teams are extremely evenly matched heading into this game. The Braves had the better pitcher in Game 1, but for Game 2 the difference between these two teams on the mound is marginal. Expect both of these offenses to produce fireworks because each of them is capable of that. I think the Guardians cover and keep this close, but would not be surprised if the Braves still won in a very close game.

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Final Guardians-Braves Prediction & Pick: Guardians +1.5 (-137)