Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 7/9/26, 9:08 AM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 7/16/26 at 10:47 AM in MLB Picks

The series between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates will be decided this afternoon. The Pirates used an offensive explosion to win game one while the Braves relied on strong pitching to bounce back in game two.

The Pirates rode the back of Ryan O’Hearn in game one. The right fielder went 4-5 with 3 home runs and an astonishing 10 RBIs. That was plenty of run support for Paul Skenes, who pitched 6 innings and held the Braves to 2 runs to pick up his 7th win of the season. Brandon Lowe also chimed in by going 3-5 with an RBI in the win. Hurston Waldrep of the Braves gave up a majority of the runs as he went 3 innings and allowed 7 runs on just 6 hits.

Last night, in game two, Grant Holmes of the Braves did most of the heavy lifting. He went 5 innings of scoreless work and held the Pirates to just 3 hits. However, the scoring from the Braves did not come until late, which left him out of the decision. The bullpen for Atlanta followed suit and continued the scoreless pitching that Holmes had begun as they worked their way to a 3-0 win and evened the series.