Who's ready for some inter-league action to kick off your weekend? The scalding hot Atlanta Braves will see if they can extend their winning streak to seven games when they take on the finally playoff-worthy Seattle Mariners. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Braves-Mariners prediction and pick will be revealed.
Don't look now, but the Atlanta Braves are suddenly in a position to dethrone the New York Mets for first place in the NL East. With an overall record of 86-51, the Braves will send out veteran Charlie Morton, who is 7-5 with a 4.01 ERA in his 26 games started on the season.
No, the Earth isn't quite freezing over. Indeed, the Mariners have battled all season and now are only a few weeks removed from clinching a playoff berth for the first time since 2001. With a record of 77-60, Seattle has found itself in a firm position of one of the Wild Card spots nearing the second week of September. On the mound for the Mariners ahead of their highly anticipated matchup with the Braves will be the southpaw in Robby Ray, as he has accumulated a 12-8 record to go along with a respectable 3.45 ERA.
Here are the Braves-Mariners MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Braves-Mariners Odds
Atlanta Braves: -1.5 (+140)
Seattle Mariners: +1.5 (-170)
Over: 7 (-120)
Under: 7 (-102)
Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread
With a heavy dosage of elite pitching and rock-solid defense, Atlanta's blueprint to win games has worked like a charm. In fact, the defending champs appear to be a team with aspirations of going back-to-back, which hasn't happened in baseball since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000. While it won't be an easy task, this Braves team is as well balanced as they come to try and make history.
In order to shut down the Mariners and cover the spread in doing so, Atlanta will seek to get off to a fast start as they did in their 7-3 win coming on Wednesday against the Athletics. Facing off with Seattle for the first time since the 2017 season, the Braves were led by shortstop Dansby Swanson and second-baseman Vaughn Grissom. The in-fielding duo paved the way for offense as the two both homered in the contest. As a whole, the Braves possess an incredible offensive attack that few other teams can rival. Already 137 games into the season, Atlanta holds the second-most runs in the league and also holds the second-highest slugging percentage at an explosive .446 mark. Clearly, the loss of first-baseman Freddie Freeman has proved to be less detrimental to this lineup than first thought.
Covering the spread will have to be a team effort against a Mariners squad who is above-average at home with a 36-30 record, so Charlie Morton will have to use his vast experience to his advantage. Without a doubt, Morton has strung together quite the career and even sports a 5-3 record to go along with a productive 4.30 ERA in ten career starts against Seattle. At first glance, Morton may be what it takes to keep the victory train rolling right along.
Why The Mariners Could Cover The Spread
Like the Braves, Seattle is an incredibly balanced bunch who uses opportunistic pitching and defense to keep them in numerous games that they play. Additionally, Seattle has been on a scorching tear as well by coming away victorious in ten of their previous 13 games played. Simply put, Mariners fans can finally rejoice as they may be heading to the glory land of playoff baseball in the not-too-distant future.
For starters, Seattle is coming off a tough pill to swallow in a rare 9-6 loss to the White Sox, but this team is more than capable of bouncing back in a big way. In fact, the Mariners haven't lost back-to-back games since Aug. 21st, which is why Seattle is more than capable of covering the spread this evening. Even more uncharacteristic was the lapse in focus out on defense, as the Mariners committed three errors that led to six unearned runs in the defeat to Chicago. A more fundamental showing with the gloves will be vital in halting the Braves' recent success.
Not to mention, but outside of Wednesday's blemish, the pitching staff has certainly been up to snuff. Indeed, it has been the arms of this starting rotation and bullpen where the Mariners have made their living. Seattle has been a fringe top-five unit from the mound for a majority of the season, and they will need to put their best foot forward against a lethal Braves squad. With Morton on the bump for Atlanta, Robbie Ray will need to continue his stretch of stellar outings as he hasn't surrendered a single run in his last two starts.
Final Braves-Mariners Prediction & Pick
This has the makings of being one of the more entertaining games on Friday's MLB scheduled slate. Even with the Braves on a roll at the moment, taking Atlanta to win on the road by at least two runs against a steady Mariners crew seems like a tough ask. Hammer Seattle in this one.
Final Braves-Mariners Prediction & Pick: Mariners +1.5 (-170)
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