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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Atlanta Braves MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 5/23/2021

Pittsburgh Pirates (18-27) vs. Atlanta Braves (22-24)
May 23, 2021 1:20 pm EDT
The Line: Atlanta Braves -185 / Pittsburgh Pirates +165; Over/Under: 8.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves meet in MLB action from Truist Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to bounce back from a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Braves in Saturday’s matchup. Michael Perez’s solo home run was the lone RBI that the Pirates would plate in the losing effort while Wilmer Difo and Bryan Reynolds each went 2 for 4 at the dish in the loss. Adam Frazier and Will Craig each had a base hit as well in the loss for the Pirates. Mitch Keller took the loss, falling to 2-6 on the year after allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out six over five innings of work. JT Brubaker will start here and is 3-3 with a 3.27 ERA and 44 strikeouts this season. This will be Brubaker’s first career start against Atlanta.

The Atlanta Braves will look to build on their win over the Pirates on Saturday. Ozzie Albies led the way, going 2 for 4 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs while Ronald Acuna Jr. added a solo home run. Austin Riley had a double and an RBI and Freddie Freeman had a pair of hits with an RBI to finish off Atlanta’s scoring as a team in the win. Dansby Swanson had a double while Ender Inciarte and Bryse Wilson each had base hits to cap off Atlanta’s offense as a team in the win. Wilson got the win on the mound to improve to 2-2 on the year after allowing one run on five hits while striking out four over 6.2 innings of work. Max Fried will start here and is 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA and 32 strikeouts this season. This will be Fried’s second career start against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is 8-20 in their last 28 games against the NL East and 16-40 in their last 56 games against a left-handed starter while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a road underdog. Atlanta is 2-6 in their last 8 home games and 10-4 in their last 14 games against the NL Central while the over is 33-13-5 in their last 51 games against a team with a losing record. Pittsburgh is 1-5 in the last 6 meetings between these two teams and 1-7 in the last 8 meetings between these two teams in Atlanta.

I think that Brubaker might be Pittsburgh’s best chance to steal a game in this series, but Max Fried has also appeared to figure things out since his return from the IL now that it appears he is finally healthy. I look for this game to shake out as somewhat of a pitcher’s duel, so give me the under here.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: Under 8.5

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Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

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