Reds vs. Braves MLB Odds, Preview and Pick (Archive)
Defending World Series Champion Atlanta continues a season-opening homestand on Friday’s MLB odds card when the Braves host Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Atlanta Braves
Friday, April 08, 2022 – 07:20 PM EDT at Truist Park
Cincinnati came out on the right side of the MLB scores to begin the 2022 campaign with a 6-3 victory in Atlanta on Thursday.
Now the Braves look to even the series when they send veteran Charlie Morton to the home bump against Reds rookie Reiver Sanmartin in Friday’s matchup.
Favored to win a fifth consecutive NL East title by the preseason baseball futures, Atlanta is beginning the 2022 campaign without two big sticks in the lineup.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is rehabbing a knee injury that cut his 2021 short while Freddie Freeman sold out and landed a big deal with the filthy-rich Dodgers.
Join Now: $1,000 BMR 12-Week All Sports Challenge
Cincinnati is something of an afterthought behind Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Chicago in the NL Central, and hopeful of turning those predictions upside down.
Friday Odds Similar to Thursday’s
With 291 career starts under his belt, Morton and the Braves are drawing a hefty chalk price against Sanmartin who is making just his third official trip to a major league mound.
Atlanta is priced at -170 and up at the best online betting sites in the second tilt of this long 4-game set. Friday’s scoreboard target is 8½ and leans ‘over’ at most outlets.
Cincinnati plated three early runs against Max Fried, the de facto Atlanta ace, and Brandon Drury put an exclamation on the Reds’ triumph with a 3-run blast in the sixth.
Join Now: $250 MLB BMR 31-day Spring Special Contest
Tyler Mahle was a very similar underdog as Sanmartin is in Game 2, and allowed just one unearned run while striking out seven to pick up the dubya for the Reds.
This is one of the oldest rivalries in professional baseball with Thursday’s win giving Cincinnati an 1169-1087 lead in the series that dates to 1876 when the Braves were in Boston and known informally as the Red Stockings.
Atlanta won four of the seven meetings a year ago, taking two of the three at Truist Park where totals ran 2-1 O/U.
Riley Has Three of Atlanta’s Four Hits on Thursday
Sanmartin’s name is going to be very unfamiliar to many. He turns 26 next week and is embarking on what is hoped to be his first full season in the bigs after a 2-start cup of coffee at the end of the ’21 season.
The Colombian won both outings after going 10-2 in the minors across 17 starts and eight relief outings and didn’t allow an earned run over four innings this spring.
Now entering his 15th major league season, Morton led the Braves and the NL with 33 starts while going 14-6 with a 3.43 ERA a year ago.
The 39-year-old right-hander missed the Reds completely in 2021 and will be facing them for the first time since April 2016 when he got knocked around in Cincinnati.
Morton was 6-3 with a 3.61 ERA in 18 home starts last year. Morton had to rehab a busted leg during the offseason, the injury occurring in the World Series opener against Houston last October.
He took it easy during Spring Training with just one official start. With Freeman gone and Acuña Jr. missing from the lineup to begin the season, Atlanta turns to Austin Riley to provide punch in the order, and he accepted the challenge on Thursday with a 2-run homer among his three hits.
Umpire Notes, Mother Nature, and A Free Pick
Now in his 25th MLB season, Hunter Wendelstedt should have the plate for the skirmish. A native of Atlanta, Wendelstedt trended slightly to the ‘under’ in 2021 with an 11-13-1 O/U/P record.
He called two games at Truist Park, and the Braves lost both of them while ‘over’ bettors collected their winnings at top sportsbooks.
It's going to be a little cooler in Atlanta than it was for the season opener, with a first pitch right around 50°.
The good news is there’s no threat of rain, but bettors need to check the wind before going to the window with the current forecast calling for a 10-15 mph WNW breeze (out to right-center).
Many Reds hitters have not faced Morton and this will be the first time Atlanta sees Sanmartin. Combined with cooler temps, that has me going with a free baseball pick on the ‘under.’
For our MLB picks, let’s also toss in a small play on Cincinnati to once again feel the defending NL champs.
MLB Pick: Reds (+166) with Heritage Sports (visit our Heritage Sports Review)
MLB Pick: Under 8½ (+102) with Heritage Sports
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.