Houston Astros (9-10) vs. Atlanta Braves (14-5)
April 21, 2023 7:20 pm EDT
The Line: Atlanta Braves -116 / Houston Astros -111; Over/Under: +8.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves meet Friday in MLB action from Sun Trust Park. The Astros are fresh off a series versus the Blue Jays, winning two of those three games. As for Atlanta, they played the Padres this week. The Braves won two of those three games as well. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Houston Astros
Houston managed a 9-2 win over the Blue Jays in their Monday opener, then fell 4-2 in the Tuesday matchup. In the Wednesday rubber match, the Astros powered out an 8-1 victory thanks to six eighth-inning runs. Starter Luis Garcia lasted 7.0 clean frames with two hits and a walk.
For the starter job on Friday, the Astros will send out Hunter Brown. In his three starts so far Brown is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 17 Ks in 18.2 innings. Brown is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his career over 10 games (five starts).
Atlanta Braves
Over on the Atlanta side, they beat the Padres 2-0 on Monday and 8-1 in game two. In the Wednesday finale, the Braves couldn’t find any success on four team hits and lost 1-0. Starter Charlie Morton finished with 6.0 innings, five hits and three walks.
It’ll be Bryce Elder in the start for the Braves on Friday. This year Elder is 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 17 Ks in 17.2 innings over three starts. Elder is 4-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) over his career.
The Astros are 4-1 in their last five interleague road games and 21-7 in their last 28 road games. Houston is 80-33 in the last 113 after an off day.
Meanwhile, the Braves are 38-16 in the last 54 in game one of a series and 35-16 in their last 51 Friday games. Atlanta is 52-23 in their last 75 overall.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to try the Astros here. We should see a nice starter battle regardless, though. Brown stumbled a bit out of the gate this year, but over his last two starts he’s been great. Across 14.0 combined innings without an earned run, Brown is 2-0 with seven hits and three walks. As for Edler, he was a little shaky at times during his 5.1 innings against Kansas City on April 15 (eight hits; three earned; two walks) but still got the win. I like a lower-scoring game here as the Astros eke out the win. Should be a fun opener.
