After sending the Rockies out of town just yesterday, the Braves welcome in a divisional opponent in the Marlins. Meanwhile, Miami finally had a much-needed day off on Thursday. They just had a 4-game series against the Dodgers transitioned straight into a series against the Rays. It's been a tough stretch for them since the all-star break. Their lineup is depleted, but they do have the NL Cy Young favorite in Sandy Alcantara. On the flip side, the Braves are one of the best teams in the league. With such an interesting dynamic, this series opener has plenty of ways to make it profitable. Along with this same game parlay, be sure to check out our MLB picks for all of today's games.
Braves -1.5 (+128)
Under 7.5 total runs (-164)
Charlie Morton 5+ strikeouts (-330)
Parlay odds: +351
Let's take a closer look at each leg of our same game parlay.
Atlanta Braves -1.5 (+128) over Miami Marlins
It’s rather surprising the Braves are still such significant favorites tonight. That's because Marlins ace Alcantara will be on the mound. However, it's important to keep in mind how much he's had to carry them this season. He's coming off of back-to-back starts against the league-best Dodgers, with the most recent being a complete game. That was his 4th such game this season. That's not only more than any other pitcher, but more than any other team. There's no doubt he's incredible, but the guy is absolutely spent at this point.
On top of all of that is the lack of run support he receives. Even in that incredible complete game, it felt like a miracle the Marlins squeaked out 2 runs to finally get him a win. Miami has scored more than 4 runs just 7 times since the 4th of July. That's 53 games. They've fallen all the way to the 4th-lowest scoring team in the league. That's a lot of picking on the Marlins, but this play is also because the Braves have been incredible.'