Atlanta Braves vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction 9-9-23 MLB Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves meet Saturday in MLB action from SunTrust Park. This will be the second matchup in a three-game weekend series. In the Friday opener, Atlanta secured a six-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Pittsburgh Pirates 

The Pirates did pretty well against the Brewers this week, winning two of three games for a series victory. In Wednesday’s 5-4 win, Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes secured a solo homer and two runs. In the Friday matchup versus the Braves, the Pirates gave up eight runs over the first five innings in an 8-2 defeat. 

In the starter role for the Pirates on Saturday, Pittsburgh will send out Johan Oviedo. In his 28 starts this year Oviedo is 8-14 with a 4.27 ERA and 136 Ks in 158.0 innings. Oviedo is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA over his last seven starts. 

Atlanta Braves 

Over on the Atlanta side, they had some trouble with the Cardinals this week, giving up a whopping 21 runs over the first two games. In the Thursday finale the Braves stopped the sweep with an 8-5 win. In the opener versus the Pirates, Atlanta got home runs from both Ronald Acuna (two RBI) and Eddie Rosario (three RBI) in the win. 

As starting pitcher for the Saturday game two, the Braves will go with Dylan Dodd. In five starts this year (the first five of his career) Dodd is 2-1 with a 7.40 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 24.1 innings total. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll take a stab on the Pirates here. Sure, Oviedo is coming off a shaky loss to the Cardinals, posting just 3.2 innings with three earned on four hits and six walks. That said, prior to that Oviedo had just one earned in 14.0 innings over two starts, going 2-0 in that pair. In the Friday opener of this series, Pittsburgh got into trouble early after a rough start from Mitch Keller (5.0 innings; eight earned; 12 hits). The bullpen was solid though, and Atlanta didn’t score after the fifth. Oviedo is going to need a solid showing in the start, but I think the Pirates are worth a try on a value play.