Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds Betting Preview & Picks

The Atlanta Braves will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Reds at Great American Ballpark on Friday night at 6:40 p.m. The Reds are coming off a series loss to the Chicago Cubs where they lost two out of three during this week. The Braves won two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Reds are still last place in the NL Central, 16.5 games back from the first place Milwaukee Brewers. The Braves are in second in their division, just 3.5 games behind the first place New York Mets.

Let’s take a look at this National league three game series matchup between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves.

Braves vs. Reds Betting Odds

The Atlanta Braves are expected to be 1.5 run favorites against the Reds even though these games are being played in Cincinnati. The Reds are coming off a disappointing loss to the Cubs where they could’ve made a dent to overtake the Cubs for fourth place in the division but ended up dropping the last two games of the series.

The Reds are 3-7 in their last ten games and 12-23 in games played at home this season. The Braves have been playing considerably better than the Reds at 4-6 in the past ten games. They are an impressive 20-16 on the road this season.

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Expected Pitching Matchup

Left-hander Mike Minor will take the mound for the Reds posting a rough 7.71 ERA with 21 strikeouts and a 1-4 record. He took the loss in his last outing where he gave up six runs on eight hits in only five innings of pitching. He struck out four and gave up two walks in the contest. He will need to turn it around against a team that has been playing consistently good baseball recently.

Max Fried is the expected starter for Chicago in Friday’s matchup. He is 7-2 this season with a 2.77 ERA and an impressive 92 strikeouts. His last time out he got a no decision even though he held the Dodgers to two runs on six hits while striking out nine batters in 6.2 innings. He will look to rack up the strikeouts again in this matchup against the Reds.

Expected Outcome

The Reds have the home field advantage in this one, but they will be the underdogs for a reason. They have not been able to figure it out this season, and that is no surprise when you look at the talent on their roster. With such a young team, it is hard to string together wins even when they have Joey Votto as a leader for the young guys.

I expect the Braves to win this one and win it by a lot so I will be taking the Braves with the spread because not only are the Braves the better team, but this pitching matchup favors Atlanta greatly. I think the Reds are in for a rough series where I believe they will lose all three matchups this weekend against a much better Braves team.