Barring an unlikely – but possible – meeting in the World Series, the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves conclude their interleague series for the year on Wednesday night. Because it’s in a National League park, Boston loses the DH and is an underdog on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Red Sox at Braves MLB Odds & TV Info

• When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET
• Where: Truist Park
• Probable pitchers (away/home): Garrett Richards/Ian Anderson
• TV: ESPN
• Stream/gameday audio: ESPN app
• Opening MLB Lines: Braves -150, Red Sox +140 (total 9)

Why Bet on Boston?

The Red Sox are in the midst of playing a game on 17 consecutive days (ends Thursday), all vs. teams that made the 2020 playoffs. The Sox lead the majors with 23 come-from-behind wins this season. The largest lead they have relinquished in a loss is 2 runs, done only 4 times.

In the first All-Star voting update, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers were the AL’s leading vote-getters at shortstop and third base. Bogaerts leads AL shortstops in AVG (.325), OBP (.384), SLG (.557), OPS (.941), doubles (17), XBH (29), RBI (tied, 39), wRC+ (153), and fWAR (3.1). Devers is tied for the AL lead in doubles (19) and XBH (35). He also leads AL 3rd basemen in hits (64), HR (15), RBI (49), SLG (.553), OPS (.890), and runs (tied, 43).

Because no DH in this game, the Red Sox lose a big bat in JD Martinez. He leads all designated hitters in AVG (.310), OBP (.375), runs (44), hits (72), and doubles (tied, 16) and is 2nd in OPS (.922), wRC+ (147), and fWAR (1.9).

It’s right-hander Garrett Richards (4-4, 4.09) on the mound here. Richards pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs and 11 hits last Friday in a no-decision versus the Blue Jays.  The Blue Jays hit 12 balls at greater than 100 mph exit velocity off Richards, who allowed a season-high 13 baserunners in the contest.

The right-hander has not won a game since May 19, a four-start span in which he’s given up 29 hits and 12 walks over 22 innings. He’s allowed at least 10 hits and walks combined in four of his last five outings, putting a whole lot of high-stress innings on an arm that already had workload concerns as it was.

Richards has thrown 5.0+ innings in each of his last 8 starts, his longest streak since doing so in a career-high 27 consecutive outings from 6/11/15-4/25/16. He has faced the Braves only twice in his career, although one of those times came three weeks ago, when he allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a loss.

Why Bet on Atlanta?

Rather amazingly, the Braves are yet to have a winning record at any point this season. The last time the Braves had a winning record was after finishing 35-25 last season. Only two other major league teams have not had a winning record at any point this season: Miami and Texas. The Marlins reached .500 once at 7-7, while the Rangers were .500 two different times at 3-3 and 18-18.

The Braves have scored 50.5% of their runs via the home run this season, the second-highest share in the league. Only San Francisco is higher at 52.5%. No other team in the majors is above the 50% mark. The Braves set the franchise record last season, scoring 48.3% of its runs via the home run.

Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said this week that he expects top catcher Travis d’Arnaud back sometime in August. D’Arnaud had surgery in early May to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. William Contreras will continue to operate as the Braves primary backstop with Kevan Smith as his backup.

It’s good-looking young right-hander Ian Anderson (4-3) on the mound. Anderson shut out the Phillies for seven innings in a no-decision last Thursday. Anderson kept pace with his counterpart Zack Wheeler by matching his longest start of the season and turning in his third scoreless effort. It’s the fourth time in 12 starts this year that Anderson has gone without allowing a run but he got no run support. The start lowered his ERA to 3.26 for the season, which he’s supplemented with a 69:26 K:BB across 66.1 frames.

The Red Sox did get a look at Anderson last year, scoring two runs over six innings in his second career start. Anderson will feature a fastball that sits in the mid-90s along with a changeup and a curveball.

Game Trends

• Red Sox are 38-14 in their last 52 interleague road games vs. a right-handed starter.
• Red Sox are 53-25 in their last 78 Wednesday games.
• Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 games vs. a right-handed starter.
• Braves are 10-22 in their last 32 interleague home games vs. a team with a winning record.
• Braves are 1-4 in their last 5 Wednesday games.
• Braves are 1-4 in their last 5 during game 2 of a series.

Expert Prediction

• Braves 4, Red Sox 3

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