The Atlanta Braves look like they’re just getting ready for October to get here already.
Sunday night was another example of a great team looking unfocused. They took a 3-0 lead over a New York Mets team that had been largely terrible since the trade deadline sale. After that, the Mets scored the next seven points and held on for a 7–6 victory over Atlanta.
The Braves are 5-5 in their last 10 games. It’s easy to get distracted in August when you have more than 30 games over .500. The Braves still hold a four-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL’s best record.
The good news for the Braves could be that the New York Yankees are coming to town. The Yankees’ season reached an all-time low on Sunday when they blew out a 7-1 lead and lost to the Tampa Bay Rays after giving up five runs in the ninth inning. The Braves are -225 favorites at BetMGM for the series opener.
The Braves have been mediocre for a month. They were 61-29 after winning on July 14. Since then they are 14-13. That’s one of the challenges of baseball betting: The Braves are clearly the best team in MLB, but it’s a long season and it’s hard to expect them to win two-thirds of their games in an entire season. Atlanta will probably be fine by the postseason, but betting them as a heavy favorite in recent weeks was a bad idea. It’s even worse if you’ve considered them a -1.5 favorite on the flight line. Those Braves bets that paid off for months on end suddenly dried up.
It’s scary to bet against the Braves, especially when they face a swinging Yankees team, but you might not want to bet on Atlanta too much until their cool stretch is over.
Here’s the first look at Monday’s sports betting:
MLB has 9 games
A few teams have the day off Monday, but there’s still a healthy Monday baseball schedule.
An interesting series begins in San Diego, where the Baltimore Orioles travel to face the San Diego Padres. The Padres are 5.5 games back in the wild card race and if they are to make any noise, it has to start now. They are -130 favorites against the AL East-leading Orioles.
The English Premier League is back
The EPL season started last week and has one game on Monday afternoon. Manchester United are a -350 favorite on the three-way line against Wolverhampton. A draw is +500 and the Wolves are +950.
What’s the best guess?
The Orioles have been profitable all season, so why not drive them again on Monday? I’ll take the O’s as a +120 underdog. The Padres are just an underperforming team and that probably won’t change for the rest of the season.
