The San Francisco Giants (67-73, 37-32 home) return home to take host the Atlanta Braves (87-53, 40-28 away) for a three-game series. The series will be the final time these two teams meet up this season, with Atlanta holding a 3-1 advantage.
Monday’s first pitch is at 9:45 p.m. EST at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California. The Braves are the betting favorite at -190, and the over/under total is seven runs.
What to Know – Atlanta Braves
Atlanta plays its sixth-straight contest on the road after a series against the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners. The Braves dropped the final two contests against the Mariners and came into the new week dropping two in a row. Atlanta sits 1.5-games back of the New York Mets in the NL East as the season winds down.
The expected starter for the Braves is right-hander Spencer Strider (10-4, 2.69 ERA, 0.96 WHIP). Strider has been a huge surprise for Atlanta this year, stepping into a starting role midway through the first half of the season and getting great results. The 23-year-old hasn’t lost since early August, picking up victories in four of his last five trips to the mound.
Austin Riley and Matt Olson led the Braves’ offense, combining for 64 home runs and 181 runs batted in. Dansby Swanson has crossed the home plate a team-high 91 times and added 82 RBIs. Two rookies, Marcell Harris II and Vaughn Grissom, have stepped into the Braves lineup and provided instant offense as well.
The Braves are ninth in the majors batting .253 as a team, scoring 4.9 runs per contest. Atlanta’s pitching staff sits sixth in the league, sporting a 3.52 team earned run average.
What to Know – San Francisco Giants
The Giants return home after an eight-game roadstand with a pair of back-to-back victories to wrap up their trip. San Francisco knocked off the Cubs over the weekend to pick up two of its three wins during the roadstand. The Giants remain in third place in the NL West, well outside the playoff picture.
Right-hander Alex Cobb (5-6, 3.68 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) is the probable starter for the Giants. The 34-year-old veteran arm has pitched better during the second half of the season after missing the first two weeks of June with an injury. Cobb has thrown 122.1 innings and allowed 50 earned runs on 121 hits and 37 walks while striking out 126 batters.
Wilmer Flores smacked his 18th home runs of the season and added to his team-best 65 RBIs in Sunday night’s victory over the Cubs. Flores also leads the team in runs scored with 66. Joc Pederson has 22 home runs and is second on the team with 62 RBIs.
San Francisco’s offense averages 4.4 runs per game and ranks 24th in the MLB with a .232 team batting average. The pitching staff for the Giants is 12th in the league featuring a 3.89 team ERA.
The Pick is In
Atlanta wants to shake off a pair of tough losses to the Mariners, and no better team to do that against than the Giants. San Francisco doesn’t have the horses offensively to keep up with the Braves, and the current pitching display by Strider will keep the Giants off the board.
The Pick: Atlanta Braves ML
