Chicago White Sox vs. Atlanta Braves Pick 8/31/19

Chicago White Sox (60-74) vs. Atlanta Braves (82-54), 8/31/19
Time: 7:20 pm ET Saturday, Aug. 31
Where: SunTrust Park, Cumberland, GA
Listed Pitchers: Reynaldo Lopez (8-11, 5.08 ERA, 1.44 WHIP) vs. Dallas Keuchel (5-5, 3.78, 1.31)
TV: NBCS Chicago, FS South

Moneyline: Braves -200/White Sox +180 (Bovada)
Over/Under: 9

The Atlanta Braves continue their effort to win another division title and secure the No. 2 seed in the upcoming National League playoffs when they host the Chicago White Sox for the middle game of a three-game set Saturday night down in Georgia. How are we playing this game with our free MLB pick?

MLB Betting Odds

Saturday’s MLB betting odds opened Atlanta and Keuchel at around -190 over Chicago and Lopez, with an over/under of 9.5 runs. Early betting action then bumped the Braves to -200 and dipped that total to nine.

Atlanta could also be found at around -105 giving the run and a half on the MLB run line.

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White Sox vs. Braves Set-Up

Atlanta grabbed the opener of this series Friday night 10-7, securing the cash as a heavy -215 favorite on the MLB betting line. The Braves jumped out to a 5-0 lead Friday night, let Chicago get within 6-5 in the seventh inning, then tacked on four insurance runs for the victory.

Atlanta rapped out 13 hits Friday night, five for extra bases.

With Friday’s win, the Braves are 10-2 over their last 12 games. At 82-54 overall Atlanta leads the NL East by 5.5 games over second-place Washington, and it’s seven games up on NL Central-leading St. Louis in the battle for that No. 2 spot in the National League standings.

With Friday’s defeat, the White Sox now own a four-game losing skid. At 60-74 overall Chicago is 18 games out of the nearest American League playoff spot, playing out the string on another lost season.

This series is the first meeting between these two teams since 2016 when the Braves took two of three games from the White Sox up in Chicago.

Saturday’s Starting Arms

Lefty Keuchel, by our stringent standards, is 8/13 on quality starts this season, working on a run of three in a row. Last Sunday he held the Mets scoreless on four hits through seven innings of a 2-1 Atlanta victory. And over his last three starts, he’s allowed just one run and 15 hits through 19 innings, with 21 strikeouts.

On the season the Braves are 7-6 with Keuchel, 3-0 over his last three starts.

In two starts last year against the White Sox while still with Houston Keuchel allowed just two runs and ten hits through 13 innings. The Astros won both those games.

Lopez is 10/27 on quality starts this year. Last Sunday he tossed five innings of scoreless, hitless ball in a 2-0 Chicago victory over Texas, but over his two starts previous to that he gave up 12 runs – eight earned – and 15 hits, including three homers, through 11 1/3 innings.

On the season the White Sox are 12-15 with Lopez, 1-2 over his last three starts.

This start will be Lopez’s first against Atlanta since 2016 when he was with Washington, and that’s already a long time ago.

Saturday’s Batting Splits

Chicago is batting .270/.323/.422 against left-handed pitching this season. But the Sox have also been held to two runs or less four times in their last six games.

Atlanta is batting .261/.340/.455 against right-handed pitching this season. The Braves have also scored 19 runs over their last two games.

The Bullpens

The White Sox bullpen owns a 4.48 ERA this season and a 1.43 WHIP while allowing a.758 OPS.

The Braves pen owns a 4.29 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP while allowing a .763 OPS.

Totals Report

• Unders are 68-61 in White Sox games this season.
• Overs are 66-63 in Braves games this season.
• Overs are 32-31 in games played at SunTrust Park this season.
• Unders are a combined 24-15 with Keuchel and Lopez this season.

Free MLB Pick

We gotta give Keuchel the edge in the pitching match-up, and Atlanta owns an advantage with the sticks. So we like the Braves here. But we don’t like that price. So we’ll take a chance and play the Braves against the run line for our free MLB pick.