The Atlanta Braves will attempt to sweep the series today in Houston at 2:10 PM EST. The Braves will send their ace Max Fried to the mound against the Astros J.P. France.

The Braves are coming off two fantastic performances by Darius Vines and Reynaldo Lopez to limit Houston’s output at Minute Maid Park. Today they hand the ball over to Max Fried, who made his first good start of the season in his last outing. The Braves turned to Fried to stop the bleeding last time around and he did.

Today, the Braves hand the ball to Fried with an opportunity to sweep the Astros. Fried will look for another solid outing to lower his season ERA from 8.74.

Max Fried vs. Houston Astros Hitters

In 43 combined at-bats against Max Fried, Astros hitters are batting a miserable .163 against the lefty. The Astros have combined for just two extra-base hits and one RBI against Fried in their careers. When you combine his track record against Astros hitters and Fried’s numbers being due to normalize, this could be a nice opportunity for Max Fried.

Braves Moneyline

The Atlanta Braves are favored at -1.5 (+110) and on the Moneyline at -148. I’m going to take the Braves on the Moneyline. The Braves lead the league in runs scored per game at 6.44 while Houston scores over two runs fewer per game. On top of that, the Braves have a big advantage in the starting pitcher matchup today. On top of those, the Braves have been destroying relief pitching this season. There is simply nowhere to run for the Astros today.

Atlanta Braves Hitters vs. J.P. France

Matt Olson is due for a homer. I like his chances of doing damage against a soft-tossing J.P. France today. France is a right-handed pitcher who averages 92-93 mph on his fastball. He doesn’t strike a lot of guys out. France throws his fastball or his cutter around 55-60 percent of the time and opposing hitters hit over .300 against each of them last season. The opposition slugged .481 against the fastball and .446 against the cutter.

Matt Olson slugged .761 against finesse pitchers last year.

Talkin’ Tomahawk Picks of the Day (04/17/2024)

We are 13-0 on our picks this year. We haven’t made one since the end of last week but we are back today.

• Braves Moneyline (-148): I wouldn’t be mad if you took the plus odds on the spread here. I’m just personally not a fan of taking the spread in baseball.
• Matt Olson Over 0.5 Hits (-225)

Other Matt Olson Player Props to Consider

If you are feeling froggy, you can pick Matt Olson to homer at +320 odds. You can spread that risk out a bit by parlaying the over on 1.5 TB, a run, and an RBI if your app allows it.

If you parlay an Olson hit with an RBI you get +135 odds. This is a nice way to supplement the two safer picks of the day with a smaller bet.

*Odds pulled from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Disclaimer: Any bets you place based on our advice will likely make you lose. Never gamble any money that is not budgeted as such. Pay your damn bills before you gamble. Only use discretionary funds. If you think you have a gambling problem, you shouldn’t have even read this article and tempted yourself.