Cleveland Guardians (18-7) at Atlanta Braves (17-6)
Game Info: Friday, April 26th, 2024 at 7:20 p.m. EST (Truist Park)
Betting Odds: Guardians ML (+175) - Over/Under (8.5)
Pick: Guardians ML (+175)
Two of the top teams in Major League Baseball throughout the early part of the season will open up a three game series here on Friday night in Atlanta. Both the Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves are off to tremendous starts this year and they have the top two records in baseball, but only one of them can pick up a victory in this series opener on Friday night. This should be a solid back and forth game, as one team looks to set the tone for the weekend and pick up a series opening victory. As both the Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves open up interleague play for the season.
Logan Allen gets the baseball for the opening game of this series on Friday night and he has picked up three victories in three starts already this season. He would like to make it four out of four with another quality performance here on Friday night in the opening game of this series on the road in Atlanta. Cleveland is coming off of a successful home stand where they won five out of six games picking up a series sweep against the Oakland Athletics and two out of three from the Boston Red Sox. Cleveland is already finished with Oakland and Boston this season and they have a combined record of 11-3 against both of those clubs.
This is a huge measuring stick opportunity for a Cleveland baseball team that usually starts out the year rather lackluster. As they will look to their hot start to the first year manager Stephan Vogt. Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have been tearing the cover off of the baseball throughout the month of April and they will look to continue that trend against a picture that they are rather familiar with. As they look to lead Cleveland to their 19th victory of the season as they look too further extend their lead over the American League Central division in the process.
Our VIP picks are hitting over 71% this season! Buy a Month package for just $400 if you don't profit get a season deal free! ($3,000 value). Winning Sport Picks is the most successful handicapping and investment service of all time.
Chris Sale will be on the mountain for the Atlanta Braves here on Friday night and that is a pitcher that the Cleveland Guardians are very familiar with because of his time with the Chicago White Sox. That could give Cleveland a huge advantage here on Friday night in game number one of this series against Atlanta. For the Atlanta Braves it’s been a somewhat solid start to the season, but their pitching has let them down at times. That is something they will need to clean up throughout the year if they want to remain as one of the top teams in baseball heading into the summer.
However, as anyone could’ve predicted their hitting has been top-tier, even though Ronald Acuna Junior has struggled at certain points throughout the month of April. Despite some struggles at the plate for some of their main guys, Atlanta does come into this game 11 games above .500 with 17 victories in their first 23 games of the season. That is a trend that they will look to maintain with a series opening victory against Cleveland as they look to stop the hottest team in the American League, and one of the hottest teams in baseball throughout the early part of the season.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Cleveland is 10-3 on the road
- Cleveland has won 8 out of their last 10
- Chris Sale is 6-8 with a 4.60 ERA against Cleveland
With Cleveland having plenty of familiarity with the Braves starting pitcher in this one and Logan Allen off to an incredible start, I look for Cleveland to pull off the upset victory here on Friday night. As I look for this to be a solid game throughout the early inning, but I do look for Cleveland bats to heat up late in this game to lead them to a much-needed victory and their 19th victory of the season, extending the fact that they have the best record in all of major league baseball throughout the month of April.
As always, get our VIP Pick Free Tonight by Clicking Here!