Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves: August 10 Betting Preview

The Cincinnati Reds will be in Atlanta this week for a series against the Braves that begins on Tuesday night. This is one of the most important matchups around baseball as both teams are trying to make a push for the playoffs. 

The Reds suffered a blowout loss to the Cleveland Indians on Monday night, but that came on the heels of sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates. Cincinnati has climbed to within 5.5 games of the Milwaukee Brewers and are keeping the pressure on. 

Atlanta is now in second place in the NL East, and that is going to be a fun race to follow the rest of the way. The Braves have improved to 57-55, and this team got a lot better at the Trade Deadline. 

The Reds are the extremely slight betting underdogs at -107 on Tuesday night. 

Reds Finally Getting Pitching

The Reds come into this series with a team ERA of 4.50, but the starting pitching has really turned around. Cincinnati was struggling to get good pitching in the first few months of the year, but now that group has become a real weapon for the Reds.

Sonny Gray is on the mound on Tuesday night, and the overall numbers don’t look great for the veterans. Gray has gone just 4-6 with a 4.44 ERA, but he is one of the most important pitchers on this team and a big key to the season.

Joey Votto and Nick Castellanos continue to carry this team on offense, and this should be a good series for each player. Votto leads the team with 23 home runs and 68 RBIs, while Castellanos has a team-high batting average of .320. 

Braves Starting to Slug

The Braves added Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler at the Trade Deadline, and that has provided a huge boost to this offense. A resurgence from Freddie Freeman in the second half of the season has also keyed this Braves run.

Freeman has improved his batting average to .294 on the year, and h also leads the team with 24 home runs. Atlanta is still playing without Ronald Acuna Jr., and that is great news for the Reds pitching staff. 

Drew Smyly starts for Atlanta in this game, and he is 7-3 on the year despite having a 4.50 ERA. 

All Eyes on Gray

The Reds are going to need a great start from Sonny Gray if they are going to win the series opener against the Atlanta Braves. Cincinnati can outscore Atlanta, but they need a dominant start from one of their most important starting pitchers. 

Cincinnati has been getting great starting pitching of late, and that trend will need to continue as the season moves along. The Reds need Gray to set the tone early in this series with a dominating performance. 

Even though Atlanta has been playing better of late, the Reds are still the better overall team. Cincinnati needs to pick up a few wins in this series if they are going to keep pressure on the Milwaukee Brewers.

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