Miami Marlins (34-45) vs. Atlanta Braves (39-41)
July 3, 2021 4:10 pm EDT
The Line: Atlanta Braves -150 / Miami Marlins +139; Over/Under: 9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves meet in an NL East division matchup in MLB action from Truist Park on Saturday.
The Miami Marlins will look to bounce back from ending up on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss at the hands of Atlanta last time out. Jesus Aguilar had two hits while Garrett Cooper, Miguel Rojas and Jesus Sanchez each had a base hit as the Marlins cranked out just five hits as a team in the losing effort. Pablo Lopez ended up with the loss after allowing the lone run, falling to 4-5 on the year as a result. Sandy Alcantara will start here and is 4-7 with a 3.12 ERA and 93 strikeouts this season. In his career, Alcantara is 1-0 with a 2.90 ERA and 23 strikeouts against Atlanta.
The Atlanta Braves will try to build on their win over the Marlins from Friday. Ozzie Albies accounted for the game’s lone RBI while Freddie Freeman added a base hit as well as the Braves mustered up just two hits as a team in the win with the rest of the lineup batting 0 for 19 with 6 strikeouts in the victory. Drew Smyly got the win after tossing 5.2 shutout innings, striking out seven on the way to the victory to improve to 6-3 on the year. Will Smith closed out the 9th for his 17th save of the season. Kyle Muller will start here and is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 13 strikeouts this season. This will be Muller’s first career start against Miami.
Miami is 4-10 in their last 14 games against a left-handed starter and 4-13 in their last 17 road games while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 Saturday games. Atlanta is 5-2 in their last 7 home games and 4-1 in their last 5 game two matchups while the under is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games overall. Miami is 16-37 in the last 53 meetings between these two teams and 8-22 in the last 30 meetings between these two teams in Atlanta.
I could make a case for either side here as Alcantara’s one of my favorite young pitchers and I still like Atlanta’s lineup. However, I’m going to side with the under. Alcantara has pitched well at times this season and Miami’s offense has left a lot to be desired across the board. On the other hand, Atlanta’s struggled to find consistency all year long and I could easily see a 3-2 game either way you slice it.
