The Atlanta Braves (82-44) and San Francisco Giants (66-61) will begin a three-game weekend series tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. ET at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Braves ace Spencer Strider (14-4, 3.57 ERA) will get the start tonight and will battle Giants righty Logan Webb (9-9, 3.36).
Atlanta is kickstarting a 10-game road trip against the NL West and would like to build on its NL East lead while on the West Coast. The team just took two of three off the Giants at home last weekend before winning its three-game divisional series against the Mets.
San Francisco is right in the thick of the crowded NL Wild card race and would like to establish some momentum with a series victory against the top team in baseball. The Giants are returning home after dropping two of three to the Phillies earlier this week, narrowly avoiding a sweep with an 8-6 extra-inning victory on Wednesday.
The Braves enter the game as -148 favorites on the moneyline over at DraftKings Sportsbook, while San Francisco is a +124 underdog. The run total is set at 7.5.
Braves-Giants picks: Friday, August 25
Injury report
Braves
Out: 2B Ozzie Albies (hamstring), SP Kyle Wright (shoulder), SP Kolby Allard (shoulder), RP Nick Anderson (shoulder), RP Yonny Chirinos (elbow), RP Jesse Chavez (shin), RP Dylan Lee (shoulder), RP Daysbel Hernandez (forearm), SS Ehire Adrianza (elbow)
Giants
Out: SS Brandon Crawford (forearm), SP Ross Stripling (back), OF Mitch Haniger (forearm), SP Antony DeSclafani (elbow), SS Marco Luciano (hamstring), OF Mike Yastrzemski (hamstring), RP John Brebbia (hand), OF AJ Pollock (oblique)
Starting pitchers
Spencer Strider vs. Logan Webb
Strider completely shut down this same Giants team in last Friday’s game, striking out 10 and yielding just one hit in seven innings of work. It was yet another dominant performance for the 24-year-old phenom as he continues to build his NL Cy Young case. He’s continued to be the best strikeout artist in the majors with a K/9 of 14.0 and that once again does not bode well for a Giants lineup that has the fifth-most strikeouts in baseball this season.
Webb was knocked around a bit in his start against the Braves last Saturday, yielding four earned runs off nine hits through six innings in the eventual loss for the Giants. It was his worst outing of the month as he had been consistently delivering quality starts for San Fran prior to that ballgame. His home splits this season have been excellent with a 2.11 ERA and a .223 opponent batting average, so he’ll try to carry that success into tonight’s contest.
Over/Under pick
Both teams have been batting well over the last week with team averages over .280 and an OPS over .800. With that being said, this starting pitching battle will play too much of a factor in the total with the presumed NL Cy Young winner facing a guy that has been money at home. Even with a 7.5 total, take the under.
Pick: Under 7.5
Moneyline pick
Strider has been almost untouchable and I could easily see him cracking double-digit punchouts like he did against the Giants last Friday. That dominance should give the Braves offense enough cover to scrape a few runs across and open the series with a win.
Pick: Braves