The Braves’ pitching staff has scratched each others’ backs to find themselves tied up with the Dodgers heading back to home soil.
After Chris Sale threw 21 pitches out of the bullpen to help clinch the Wild Card against Philadelphia, the bullpen returned the favor when the team opted to rest Sale for Game 2 of the NLDS. Six relief arms came together to hold the Dodgers’ power to six hits and two runs, setting up Sale to help seize a series lead in Game 3.
He’ll face Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was surprisingly saved for Tuesday to keep him on schedule after pitching a simulation game during the team’s bye week. Furthermore, he was sensational on the road this season, holding down a 1.77 ERA through 81 ⅓ innings.
Dodgers vs. Braves Game 3 prediction, best bet
Although Jacob Misiorowski is a shoo-in for the NL Cy Young this season, we’ll be watching two of the following three names on the board square off in a postseason setting. The 37-year-old Sale’s odds surged down the stretch, pitching a 1.96 ERA over his final 24 starts, while striking out 200 batters.
He kicked off Atlanta’s postseason by spinning nine strikeouts in the 5-3 win over the Phillies one week ago.
Yamamoto counters with a 0.87 WHIP, second among qualified MLB starters, and owns a 2.25 ERA across 10 postseason appearances over the past two years.
It wasn’t long ago that Sale and Yamamoto saw each other on Aug. 27, when they combined to allow one earned run through 15 ⅓ combined innings in the Braves’ 1-0 victory.
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Both offenses are carrying their fair shares of frozen bats: Freddie Freeman entered Sunday hitting .167 over his final 18 regular-season games before homering, while Andy Pages is 0-for-7 this postseason and Tommy Edman is 0-for-5. Ronald Acuña Jr. is 3-for-18 without an extra-base hit this postseason, while Matt Olson is 3-for-19 with seven strikeouts.
Even at 6.5 runs, the total looks too high with Sale and Yamamoto on the mound, both positioned to work deep with rested bullpens behind them.
Prepare for some fast-moving, uneventful baseball.
THE PLAY: Chris Sale Under 1.5 Earned Runs (-108, DraftKings) | Under 6.5 (-131, DraftKings)
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Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
