The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves meet Monday in MLB action from Truist Park. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Atlanta Braves vs Chicago Cubs Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Chicago Cubs will trot out Shota Imanaga and he is 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 43 strikeouts this season. This will be Imanaga’s first career start against Atlanta. The Braves will be sending out Reynaldo Lopez for the start here and Lopez is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA and 36 strikeouts this season. In his career, Lopez is 1-1 with a 6.94 ERA and 15 strikeouts against the Cubs.
Chicago Cubs Recap
The Chicago Cubs come into this game off of a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Sunday’s series finale, giving the Chicago Cubs the series win and their second in the last three series after taking out the Brewers last week before falling to the Padres this time last week.
Cubs Keeping The Ball Rolling
Nico Hoerner leads the Cubs with 42 hits, 11 doubles and a .275 batting average while Christopher Morel has a team-high 9 home runs and 27 RBIs. Michael Busch has 7 homers with 20 RBIs but also has the unfortunate distinction of leading the Cubs with 53 strikeouts as well this season.
Why the Chicago Cubs will win
- The Braves have lost three of their last four games as favorites against NL Central opponents following a road loss.
- The Cubs have won six of their last nine games as underdogs against NL East opponents following a road win.
- The underdogs have covered the run line in 10 of the Cubs’ last 11 games.
- The Braves have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games against National League opponents that held a winning record.
- The Braves have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last eight games against National League opponents that held a winning record.
Atlanta Braves Recap
The Atlanta Braves will be looking for the rebound performance after falling short in a 4-3 loss to the Mets in Sunday’s series finale in primetime. The loss snapped Atlanta’s four-game win streak, but still gave them back-to-back series wins after their two-game sweep of the Red Sox to start the week.
Braves Still Have Potent Lineup, But Waiting For Breakout
Marcell Ozuna leads the Braves with 45 hits including 12 home runs and 40 RBIs while Orlando Arcia has a team-high 11 doubles while Ozzie Albies has 9 doubles, logging 32 hits as well this season. Ronald Acuna Jr. has a team-high 44 strikeouts but also leads the Braves with 14 stolen bases as well this season. Austin Riley and Matt Olson each have 8 doubles as well with Riley belting a pair of triples.
Why the Atlanta Braves will win
- The Cubs have lost each of their last eight road games against NL East opponents following a win.
- The Braves have won each of their last six games at Truist Park following a loss.
- The Cubs have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games after playing the previous day.
- The Braves have covered the run line in each of their last five games.
- The Braves have led after 5 innings in each of their last four night games at Truist Park against National League opponents.
- The Cubs have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five Monday night games against opponents that held a winning record.
Atlanta Braves vs Chicago Cubs Prediction
I’m on the Cubs here. I know the Braves are a solid lineup and I know it almost feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop with Imanaga and for him to finally have a bad outing. However, until that happens, I’m going to keep rolling with him. The Braves just haven’t had the same punch that they had out of the gate last season, and I’m still not sure when that’s going to come. Lopez has been solid in his own right and the Braves have the edge in the pen, but Imanaga’s shown he’s good enough to eat up a lot of innings for the Cubs and not have to wear down that bullpen. I’ll side with Chicago and the plus money here.