Astros vs. Braves prediction: Picks, odds, live stream, TV channel, start time on Sunday, August 21

The Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves square off on Sunday with first pitch set for 1:35 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Truist Park in Atlanta and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Jose Urquidy (11-4, 3.69 ERA) will step on the mound for the Astros while Charlie Morton (6-5, 4.04 ERA) will get the nod for the defending champs.

Atlanta (75-47) will go for the sweep this afternoon after coming away with an exciting 5-4 victory in extra inning last night. With two on and no outs in the bottom of the 11th, Matt Olson smacked a double to left field to bring home a runner and re-tie the game. Two batters later, pinch hitter Travid d'Arnaud singled home another runner for the walk-off base hit. The Braves have now won 11 of their last 12 contests and have pulled to within three games of the NL East lead.

Houston (77-45) had multiple opportunities to wrap the game up in extras and couldn't finish the job last night. The Astros plated two runners in the top of the 10th before the defending champs came right back with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame. The following inning, they retook the lead when a Jeremy Pena groundout brought home Alex Bregman. However, closer Ryne Stanek couldn't finish the job in bottom of the 11th.

Astros vs. Braves

Pitchers: Jose Urquidy vs. Charlie Morton
First pitch: 1:35 p.m. ET
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Braves local broadcast: Bally Sports Southeast
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Braves -1.5 (+135)
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Braves -150, Astros +130

Moneyline pick: Astros +130

The Astros are trying to avoid their first series sweep of the season and who better to get them back into the winning column than Urquidy starting on the mound this afternoon. Outside of a bad outing against Texas earlier in the month, the righty has been tough to crack and should lead Houston to a win at Truist Park today.

Player prop pick: Yuli Gurriel under 0.5 hits (+185)

Gurriel has had a rough series so far, going 1-9 at the plate with three strikeouts. He has a career .333 batting average against Morton but we'll predict that his slump continues with another hitless outing this afternoon.

  
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