Atlanta Braves vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 7/20/24, 9:37 AM  by Bill Christy in MLB Picks

The Cardinals (50=46) will begin their 2nd half the season on the road as they travel to Atlanta to take on the Braves (53-42) in their 1st series post All-Star break. They stumbled into the break having lost 4 of their last 6 and currently trail the Brewers by 4.5 games in the NL Central. The Braves faired a bit better as they won 6 of their last 9. That included a series win over the Padres to close out the 1st half. These two squads met back in late June and the Cardinals were able to take 2 out of 3 there. Sonny Gray (9-6, 3.34) will get the nod for the Cardinals to start things of in this series. He did not pitch in the previous series with the Braves but is coming off 3 straight starts where he allowed at least 3 runs and picked up 2 losses. The Braves will counter with right hander Spencer Schwellenbach (3-4, 4.43). He has gone back-to-back games against the Phillies and Padres allowing just 1 run in each. He has also struck out 9 batters while allowing just 1 walk. He also pitched in the previous series with the Cardinals and took a loss while allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work.