Braves vs. Mets prediction and odds for Friday, April 28 (Trust Max Fried in Queens)

It’s still very early, but it’s starting to look as though the NL East will be a two horse race at the top with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets jockeying for position. Right now, the Braves are in the top spot at 17-9, while the Mets are just two games back, 15-11. They can easily make up that gap in this series as they host Atlanta for three games at home in Queens. 

For Game 1 of this three-game NL East series, the Braves send one of their ace pitchers, Max Fried to the mound while the Mets are forced to counter with 1-3 David Peterson with his 7.36 ERA. Fried is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in three starts. The Braves are road favorites with their edge on the mound, so let’s get into the odds. 

Braves vs. Mets odds, run line and total

Braves vs. Mets prediction and pick

Fried returned from injury for two starts, April 17 and 23 and has yet to allow an earned run after his stint away from the field. In his first start he only gave up one run. He’s been absolutely lights out with 11 strikeouts to just three walks, but he hasn’t gone all that deep into his outings. Last time out he went 6.2 which is by far his longest outing of the season. They have that luxury because they have a solid bullpen behind him and he’s typically handing the ball off with a lead. 

The Braves couldn’t complete the sweep of Miami, but they’ve righted the ship after getting swept by Houston. Their offense was solid in that series and it’ll be solid against a lefty like Peterson. They are third in OPS against left-handers with a league-high 14 homers.

On the other side, the Mets are 17th in OPS vs. lefties and they have to face a much tougher lefty in Fried than the Braves do in Peterson. This series should start off in Atlanta’s favor because of Fried on the mound and the way Ozzie Ablies and Sean Murphy have hit lefties. 

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change