The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves will begin a two-game series on Monday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Yankees-Braves prediction and pick.
Both of these teams head into this series needing a couple of wins. The Yankees have played their way into the Wild Card Game, but every win will help secure their newly found playoff berth. The Braves are in a bit of an easier position. Atlanta recently stormed into first place in the NL East and currently lead the division by five games. However, the Braves can't be too comfortable in a division that has seen three different teams take first place over the course of the season. Both of these squads need to continue their winning ways, and that usually makes for some entertaining baseball.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for Monday's game.
MLB Odds: Yankees-Braves Odds
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New York Yankees ML (-101)
Atlanta Braves ML (-109)
Over 9 runs (-122)
Under 9 runs (+102)
Why The Yankees Could Win
New York comes into this game as one of the hottest teams in baseball. The Yankees have won their last nine games in a row, with all of those wins but one coming by multiple runs. The offense has scored more than four runs in eight of their last 10 matchups. The Yankees have caught fire at the perfect time, and Braves pitcher Huascar Ynoa will have the unenviable task of trying to cool them down.
Before his long trip to the IL, Ynoa was pitching very well. He has made one start since his return, and it was a pretty solid one. But this Yankees team has a couple of statistical advantages over Ynoa that should lead to plenty of runs being put on the board early.
The young pitcher is allowing a barrel percentage of 9.9% and a hard-hit percentage of 45.8%. Both of those numbers are poor, and they don't match up well against a Yankees lineup that has been on a tear of extra-base hits and home runs lately. New York is also a better offensive team on the road, as they see all of their major batting stats rise when they play away from Yankee Stadium. Ynoa may seem like a good matchup for any team, but he's catching the Bronx Bombers at the worst possible time. Expect more fireworks from the Yankees in this one.
Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread
The Braves are actually on a very similar hot streak to the Yankees. They've also won their last nine games, and eight of those victories have come by multiple runs. The Braves haven't been as prolific at the plate as the Yankees have been, but they've been finding ways to win. That trend should continue against New York pitcher Jordan Montgomery.
Montgomery has pieced together pretty good stats over the course of the season, but there are a couple of numbers that the Braves should be salivating over. The lefty is far worse when he pitches on the road, seeing his opponent's batting average rise from .221 at Yankee Stadium to .252 anywhere else. Atlanta is also much stronger offensively at home, shown by an improved batting average, OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage at Truist Park. The Braves should be able to tag Montgomery throughout this game.
Final Yankees-Braves Prediction & Pick
It's hard to pick against either one of these teams, but the Yankees should take this game. Their pitching situation inspires a little bit more confidence than that of the Braves, and their offense has been almost unstoppable lately. The odds are also perfect to put some money down on New York. Lock in the Yankees.
FINAL PICK: New York Yankees ML (-101)
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