Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves Free Betting Picks & Predictions, Lines, & Odds

With the Monday night game, the Braves will open the home 4-game series against the Cubs. Atlanta is coming to the game after a tough day on Sunday. They were shut out in both games of their double-header against the Diamondbacks. The Braves didn’t even manage a single hit in the second game. Their season record is now 9-12 and they’re 11th in the NL. The Cubs are one game in the loss column ahead of them. They hold the 9th spot in the NL with the 10-11 record. They were also shut out in the last game, at home vs the Brewers. The two teams already played a 3-game series this season in Chicago. The Braves managed to come out as winners twice. The weather will be partly cloudy with 31% cloud coverage. There’s a 0% chance of rain and the wind is expected at 7 mph SSE.

Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves Betting Odds & Line Movement

The Braves are home favorites for Monday matchup. The line is at -180 at most bookies, although some are offering 185. The Cubs are -155 road underdogs at most sportsbooks. The total is set at 8.5.

Notes On The Chicago Cubs

The Cubs were solid on their 9-game homestand, going 5-4. They were particularly convincing against the Mets, sweeping them in three games. However, they ended the series of home games on a negative note, losing twice to the Brewers. After struggling on offense to start the season, they managed to bounce back. However, as proven in the last game, they are still inconsistent on the end. The pitching continues to be below average. They’re now 15th in the league in offense, and 22th in defense. They’re averaging 4.38 runs and hold the team ERA of 4.48.

On Monday evening, the Cubs will start Zach Davies (8.80 ERA) on the mound. The right-hander is still struggling to find his groove this season. He’s 1-2 in 15.1 innings pitched. This season, he’s had fewer strikeouts (10), than walks (11). His career record vs the Braves is 1-1 in three starts with a 3.50 ERA and 4 strikeouts. He played against Atlanta in the 2-5 defeat earlier this month. In that game, Davies gave up 4 runs in 4 innings.

Notes On The Atlanta Braves

Over the weekend, the Braves lost two in the 3-games series against Arizona, both times being shot out. They’ll look at the Cubs series as a chance to bounce back against the team they’ve already beaten in the road series this season. Going against Davies may be a perfect chance to forget their dreadful Sunday performances. The Braves are averaging 4.55 runs this season, good enough for 12th in the MLB. However, they struggled with pitching, as they have a team ERA of 4.67 which ranks them 25th in the league.

The veteran right-hander, Charlie Morton (3.91 ERA) will get his fifth start of the season on Monday. The last time he started, Morton kept the Yankees to 1 run in 6 innings, leading to no decision 1-3 loss. In the whole campaign, he has a 3.91 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with a 1-1 record in 23 innings. He has 14 career starts vs the Cubs with a not-so-stellar 5.05 ERA.

Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves Betting Prediction, & Pick: OVER 8.5

Both teams have struggled on offense yesterday, failing to score a single run in 23 innings. This means that the batting can only go up. The Braves are batting much better at home and Davies has allowed 13 earned runs in his last 9.2 innings. Prior to the last two games vs the Brewers, the Cubs offense has also been showing signs of life. They do have the talent and shouldn’t stay cold for long.