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The Los Angeles Dodgers are on quite the roll of late and enter Sunday Night Baseball against the Atlanta Braves on a seven-game win streak. The Braves had had gotten back on track of late after a horrible start, but they’re now losers of three in a row. Los Angeles sends Dustin May to the mound as the Dodgers aim for another series sweep, while Atlanta counters with Bryce Elder. The Dodgers are -137 favorites (bet $137 to win $100) on the money line according to SportsLine consensus odds, while the Braves are +116 (bet $100 to win $116).
Angelo Magliocca, a regular contributor to The Early Edge and CBS Sports HQ, is a seasoned MLB handicapper up 123.5 units over the last three MLB seasons. He’s put together a three-leg parlay at FanDuel Sportsbook for Sunday Night Baseball, with a star Dodger and former Brave playing a key role. You can view all expert picks for Dodgers-Braves, as well as other MLB games, only at SportsLine.
Dodgers vs. Braves SGP (+291 on FanDuel — 0.5u)
- Dodgers -1.5
- Freddie Freeman 1+ hit
- Freddie Freeman 1+ RBI
The Dodgers and Braves playing in the Sunday Night game must be a welcome sight for both teams after waiting out a three-hour rain delay to finally get their game in Saturday. The Los Angeles bats routed Spencer Schwellenbach on their way to a 10-3 victory, and the final pitch was thrown just before 1:30 a.m. ET. Right in the middle of everything last night was former Atlanta MVP Freddie Freeman. He already had two hits and an RBI before belting a three-run shot to deep right-center field in the eighth inning, capping off a three-hit and four-RBI night. Shohei Ohtani had a home run of his own, and Roki Sasaki lasted five innings, which eventually turned into his first career MLB win. All in all, it was a great night for the Dodgers faithful and I’m betting on their seven-game win streak to become eight Sunday night.
Being the away team with all nine innings to bat is key here when taking the run line and if the Dodgers continue their win streak, I’m betting that it will happen by multiple runs once again. Sixteen of their 23 wins this year have come by multiple runs, and the bats have really started to click for the Dodgers. They have scored double-digit runs in three of their last four games. Elder will take the mound for the Braves, and I’m not projecting a great outing as his expected ERA is at 4.54 and it was over 5.00 last year. His home run to fly ball ratio has jumped, and he’s given up six home runs already in just 27 innings pitched. He’s been hit hard at a lower rate than previous years, so I would not be surprised if we saw a few more hard-hit balls to come. The Braves’ bullpen has been taxed a good bit recently and the Dodgers should have Tanner Scott and Evan Phillips fully ready to go here, as well as quite a few additional arms.
Elder has been better against left-handed batters this year, which is surprising after allowing a .336 average and five home runs to lefties last year. One reason for the success is the use of his slider more and cutting back on the sinker, but I’m not sold on that approach working against Freeman. He’s handled that pitch well from right-handed pitchers, and over the last month, Freeman has hit .333 with an OPS over 1.000. Back in a familiar place and facing the Braves for the last time this season, I expect Freeman to continue humming and tally at least one hit and one RBI. If Freeman goes yard again, he’ll cash both props for us and that would hopefully get us moving in the right direction for the run line.
Potential Additions: Marcell Ozuna to record a hit, Mookie Betts to record a hit, Ohtani to score a run, Betts to record an RBI
Ozuna has found success against May, and I will be playing him Over the 1.5 hits + runs + RBI prop. I like Betts to both record a hit and record an RBI. He’s been steaming hot and has a home run off Elder in nine at-bats. Ohtani leads MLB in runs scored and is likely to be atop the order once again. Lefties have walked and hit Elder hard last year.
