Two of the best teams in the National League this season play a rubber match on Sunday afternoon.
The Braves will send out Mike Soroka who made his first start in two seasons last week to mediocre results, but some rust could be expected after two major Achilles surgeries in as many years. He will face an emerging Diamondbacks lineup that is starting its ace Zac Gallen, who is in the NL Cy Young race for the second straight season.
This is a star-studded matchup, let's get to the odds and our best bet:
Braves vs. Diamondbacks odds, run line and total
Braves vs. Diamondbacks prediction and pick
Soroka pitched six innings in his first start, a promising sign, but lacked the velocity to get past batters, striking out only three batters with two walks. He only allowed five hits but also let up four earned runs in the process.
It'll be tough to keep down the Diamondbacks lineup that is sixth in batting average this season, but the Braves are being underrated and are one of the few lineups that can knock around Gallen.
While Gallen has one of the best strikeout to walk ratios in the big leagues this season, punching out more than 10 batters with only two walks per nine innings, but his xERA is far higher than his current mark. His 2.72 ERA is glowing, but his xERA sits at 3.64. He has stranded more than 68% of runners on base while allowing batters to hit .303 on balls in play. Gallen has worked out of jams at a high level, but the Braves are far too efficient.
Atlanta is top five in wRC+, which quantifies the quality of run scoring chances, as well as slugging percentage, and I rarely see cause for them to be underdogs.
The Diamondbacks are a rising contender in the NL, but the Braves are arguably the best team, I'll back Atlanta at a discounted price against Gallen.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
