Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins Picks and Predictions August 2nd 2024

Thursday’s Braves vs. Marlins game has a first pitch set for 7:20 PM ET from Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. The Braves are the heavy favorite on the money line, with their odds sitting at -200, while the Marlins are +169 underdogs. The over/under line is currently at 9 runs.

Charlie Morton will start for the Braves, and he is facing off against Max Meyer for the Marlins. Miami is 40-68 this season, while the Braves are 58-49 and are currently on a two-game winning streak. This game will be televised on BSFL.

Miami vs. Atlanta Key Information

Max Meyer and the Marlins are on the road to take on the Braves. This will be Meyer’s second start of the season against the Braves, as he picked up a win in his first start of the year, going 6 innings and allowing just 1 earned run. In his last start, Meyer went 4 innings and gave up 3 earned runs in a no-decision against the Brewers.

Over the past four games, Josh Bell and Jake Burger have both been swinging the bat well for the Marlins, with Bell going 7/18 and Burger going 7/20. Burger has three homers in this stretch, while Bell has gone deep three times in his last four games. Xavier Edwards has also been hot of late, going 10/23 in his last six games.

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Currently, Burger leads the Marlins with 15 homers, while Bell is right behind him with 14. Bell’s 49 RBIs are the best mark on the team. As a team, the Marlins are 29th in runs per game at just 3.6, and they are also near the bottom of the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Charlie Morton gets the start for the Braves today as he faces the Marlins at home. He has made 19 starts this season and has a record of 5-6 with an ERA of 4.16. Morton’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.25. In his last outing, he took the loss, going just 2 2/3 innings and giving up five earned runs on six hits. Before that, he had turned in three straight solid outings, where he didn’t give up more than one earned run. Morton’s ERA at home is 3.76, compared to 5.92 on the road.

Marcell Ozuna has been the Braves’ top hitter this season, batting .301 with 31 home runs and 84 RBIs. He comes into the game as the league’s 3rd leading run producer. Matt Olson is 2nd on the team with 17 homers but is batting just .226 this season. However, he has gone deep four times in the team’s last five games.

Over his last five games, Austin Riley has gone 7/22, including one home run and five RBIs. Matt Olson has also gone deep four times in this stretch but is just 4/19. The Braves will be looking for Olson to get back on track, as he is a key power threat in the middle of their lineup.

For a money line pick, we are leaning towards the Braves to come out on top at home vs. the Marlins. As for how we would play the over/under line, we would go with the under, as this is our lowest projected scoring game of the day. These teams have the 2nd lowest combined home run projection, and 3rd lowest total hits projection. Charlie Morton is 3rd among today’s starters in projected strikeouts.

Braves Turn to Spencer Schwellenbach to Keep Run Going

The Atlanta Braves will depend on tenderfoot Spencer Schwellenbach to proceed with their hot streak on Friday when they face the meeting Miami Marlins in the second round of their four-game series.

Schwellenbach’s New Exhibition

Schwellenbach tossed seven scoreless innings against the host New York Mets on Saturday, finishing the Braves’ six-game series of failures. That game launched Atlanta’s ongoing 5-1 run, remembering the 4-2 win over the Marlins for Thursday. With this force, the Braves have cut Philadelphia’s lead in the National League East to six games, limiting a 10-game hole from July 5.

Schwellenbach (4-5, 4.06 ERA) will be gone against by individual tenderfoot Valente Bellozo (0-1, 4.50 ERA) in a clash of right-handers.

Recalled from Twofold A Mississippi in May, Schwellenbach has turned into an installation in the Braves’ beginning revolution. He will make his eleventh beginning of the time in the wake of setting a career high with 11 strikeouts in his last trip. Schwellenbach has allowed one or less runs in three of his last four beginnings.

“We had lost, what, six in a row,” Schwellenbach said of the Braves heading into his previous start. “It was needed more than ever, and I kind of dug a little deeper because we needed that.”

Catcher Sean Murphy praised Schwellenbach’s progress: “Obviously it was his best game of the year. It feels like he’s improved every time out. I don’t say that lightly. I feel like he’s gotten more comfortable and we’ve kind of narrowed it in on what we want to do with him.”

Schwellenbach has never faced the Marlins.

Bellozo’s Challenge

Valente Bellozo made an impressive major league debut at Kansas City on June 26 with five scoreless innings. However, he struggled against Boston on July 2, giving up five runs in five innings with eight strikeouts. Bellozo was subsequently optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he made three starts, with his last outing resulting in five runs over five innings in a loss at Norfolk.

Braves’ Power Surge

The Braves have been connecting with the long ball again, hitting three home runs on Thursday, bringing their total to seven over the last two games and 136 for the season. Matt Olson has been particularly hot, with three homers in the past two days and five in the last six games. Orlando Arcia hit his 10th homer on Thursday, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

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Marlins’ Recent Performance

The Marlins’ 10-game home run streak ended on Thursday. However, they did generate a run thanks to the speed of Forrest Wall, who was picked up last week after being waived by Atlanta. Wall, who hit .310 with eight stolen bases in 28 games for the Braves over the last two seasons, contributed significantly on Thursday. He hit an opposite-field single in the fifth inning and advanced to third base when Charlie Morton’s pickoff throw got past Olson and rolled down the line. Wall then scored on Nick Fortes’ sacrifice fly.

“That’s part of his game,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said of Wall. “He’s a good bunter and can play a lot of different positions. There will be an opportunity for him, hopefully on the bases. We have to find a way to create more opportunities like he did.”

However, Wall may not be available on Friday as his wife is expected to give birth.

Game Outlook

With Schwellenbach’s areas of strength for new and the Braves’ power flood, Atlanta expects to proceed with their series of wins and close the hole in the National League East. In the interim, the Marlins will hope to return quickly and generate offense against the freshman right-hander. This matchup vows to be a convincing fight between two teams with various ongoing directions.