Atlanta Braves vs Cleveland Guardians Odds, Predictions, Picks

Braves vs Guardians Predictions

The Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians are no strangers to playoff baseball. But it has been the Braves that have been vastly superior to Cleveland so far this season. On Tuesday night, the Guardians and Braves will play the second game of their current series, with the Guardians looking to even things up after Atlanta came away with the win on Monday.

Atlanta Braves Predictions

The Atlanta Braves are the hottest team in Major League Baseball going into their Tuesday night matchup against the Cleveland Guardians. Atlanta has won nine games in a row, which is the longest active winning streak in the league going into the Fourth of July. More importantly, the Braves have opened up a commanding lead in the NL East, and they appear poised to make a serious run at the NL Pennant this season.

For the Braves, it will be Kolby Allard starting this contest on the mound against the Guardians. Allard has pitched in just one game this year coming into Tuesday night’s action, as he pitched 4.2 innings of shutout ball to help the Braves beat the Minnesota Twins last week. Here, Allard faces another AL Central team that has underachieved this year, as he looks to help his team with a 10th straight game.

Fortunately for the Braves, they have the ability to provide Allard with plenty of run support if need be. The Braves lead the National League in runs scored on the season, ranking third in the league in that category in all of baseball, trailing just the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays. If the Braves are going to win this game, they might need their offense to score more than the four runs they scored on Monday.

Cleveland Guardians Predictions

For the Cleveland Guardians, things need to get better and they need to get better in a hurry. Cleveland enters this game with a 41-43 record and a 20-20 record at home, as they look to improve on their mediocre start to the year. Fortunately for the Guardians, they send one of their best pitchers to the mound for this game, as Shane Bieber will look to end the winning streak of Atlanta.

This season, Bieber has pitched well, though maybe not to the lofty standards that were set for him going into this season. Bieber is 5-5 on the season with an ERA of 3.48, though he has allowed 12 home runs on the season. Against an Atlanta team with a ton of power in their lineup, Bieber will have to be careful with his pitches if he does not want to add to his number of home runs conceded on the season.

But the real question for the Guardians coming into this game is whether they can generate enough offense to truly compete with the Braves. Cleveland ranks 27th in the league in runs scored this season, and their lack of power has truly been a problem for them. If Cleveland wants to get back above .500 at home on the year, they will need to deliver at the plate in this contest.