The 40-20 Atlanta Braves will open a 3-game set tonight with the 29-31 Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park. The best team in baseball is expected to give the nod to Bryce Elder. He had a rare bad outing in his last turn against Boston where he allowed 6 runs on 9 hits resulting in a 0-8 loss but that won’t happen tonight. Elder is 4-3 with an ERA of only 2.30 and an excellent WHIP of 1.08. Toronto has lost two straight and is expected to turn to the veteran Kevin Gausman to right the ship. Gausman has been delivering as he usually does with a record of 4-3, a respectable 3.13 ERA and a WHIP of only 1.09. It is never a wise thing to go against the Braves and especially when they are at home. Atlanta is 17-10 in home games. They average 5.3 runs per game which is second in the Majors and average 8.9 hits per game which is first in the Majors, plus they have one of the lowest team ERAs in the league at 3.16.
TONIGHT’S PICK: ATLANTA BRAVES