MLB Baseball Preview: Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates

Added on May 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The first round of Interleague play is behind us and we’re getting back to good old fashioned National League and American League action. We’ll look at a National League matchup in this post as the Atlanta Braves head to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates. Braves are currently in third place in the NL East, 4 games out of first while the Bucs are in 4th place in the NL Central 5 games out of first.

Atlanta Braves (Jurrjens) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Morton)
May 24, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

When you think good pitching the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t the first team that comes to mind, but this should be an excellent pitching matchup as Charlie Morton takes on the Braves Jair Jurrjens. Both righthanders have done excellent work lately–Jurrjens is 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA while Morton is 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA. Morton has been even better at home where he’s got a 1.74 ERA. He’s coming off one of his best starts of the season, a complete game shutout win over Cincinnati where he allowed just five hits to the potent Reds’ offense.

The Braves are playing better on the road than they did last season when they were a huge money loser away from Turner Field. Pirates actually have a better record and more profits on the road than at home where they’re 9-12 -3.1 units on the season. They’ve been competitive with the Braves in recent years–since 2008 they’re 7-9 overall and 5-4 at home. What’s most significant, however, is that even with their awful pitching staff from last season the series has trended strongly Under. 10 of the last 15 overall and 6 of 9 at PNC Park have gone Under the total, as have both of Morton’s career starts against Atlanta–not mention three of Jurrjens four career starts against the Pirates including three straight. Morton has gone Under in six of his eight starts this season.

Both teams are getting good pitching combined with substandard hitting, and with two very sharp pitchers on the mound we expect this game to continue the recent tendency of the overall series and play Under the posted total. Braves have gone Under in 6 of their last 8 games and given Morton’s very sharp form we don’t expect to see them break out of their offensive slump in this matchup.

Bet Atlanta/Pittsburgh Under 7 +100