The Atlanta Braves took a 9-5 win over the San Francisco Giants to open their series at Truist Park last night. The victory provided a momentary boost for the Braves as they look to claw their way out of a hole in the NL East standings and into the Wild Card picture, while the Giants dropped their fourth straight contest as their recent spiral continued.
Here’s a Braves vs. Giants prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday evening’s contest as this series continues with game two.
Braves vs. Giants prediction, preview
The Braves pushed their way to 44-55 on the season and bounced back nicely after losing their first series after the All-Star Game. They’ve had a rough go of it this season but have now scored at least seven runs in three of their four contests since the break. Third baseman Austin Riley did have his return from IL pushed back a little bit as he won’t return tonight, but the team has survived in his absence thus far.
Atlanta did get out-hit 12 to eight last night, but it didn’t matter in the end as they scored their nine runs without a single homer. Drake Baldwin put on a clinic with a three-hit, six-RBI outing while Ronald Acuna Jr. showed off his eye with one hit and three runs while drawing three walks as well. Giants starter Hayden Birdsong struggled with his control in that one, something the Braves certainly took advantage of.
The Giants fell to 52-49 on the season with the loss — one which definitely hurt since they scored just five runs on 12 hits. Willy Adames had one of the best games of his career, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and a homer, plus two runs. Three other San Francisco hitters tallied multiple knocks, including Rafael Devers, who went 2-for-4 with a run and a walk in a much-needed boost given his struggles with the team thus far. The Giants’ bats usually don’t hit that well for average, so the loss felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity, though they have the chance to capitalize on a bullpen game tonight.
Braves vs. Giants pick, best bet
The Braves are -122 Moneyline favorites at home tonight via DraftKings Sportsbook’s odds. The Giants are listed at even money of +100 odds on the Moneyline with a run total of 9.5.
DraftKings Network just introduced a new probable pitchers page to track daily starter matchups, so be sure to check that out ahead of the game! Tonight, Atlanta goes to the bullpen as right-hander Davis Daniel (1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, six SO) faces San Francisco righty Landen Roupp (3.27 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 89 SO). It should be noted that Daniel only has five innings of work to his name this year but threw four innings in his lone start while allowing two hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out five batters.
In a lot of cases, a bullpen game would provide something for bettors to latch onto for value. That may not actually be the case in this outing though since Atlanta’s ‘pen sits in the upper half of most stats and has actually allowed the second-fewest hits and eighth-fewest walks among all MLB units. They’re also 12th in ERA, so the Braves could very well make it out of this one without many issues against a San Francisco lineup that has its fair share of problems.
I’m staying away from game lines in this one and instead taking Daniel to record over 1.5 walks tonight at -105 odds. He probably won’t pitch more than four innings but that’s still plenty of time for the reliever-turned-starter to send a couple batters on the basepaths. As mentioned, he did walk three batters in his lone four-inning start, so I think he at least tallies two tonight.
Best bet: Davis Daniel over 1.5 walks allowed (-105)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
