The Braves pulled off a rare road win last night and that will be tough to duplicate tonight with the injuries they have. Take the Toronto Blue Jays at home to get past Atlanta.
The combination of the Braves having a cluster injury situation in their infield and owning one of the worst road marks at 12-27 puts me on the home underdog Blue Jays.
The Braves probably are going to be without their starting left side of their infield with third baseman Chipper Jones and shortstop Yunel Escobar likely to miss another game. Atlanta is 4-10 when Jones doesn't start.
Omar Infante, the Braves' top infield sub, also is injured and unlikely to play. Atlanta got away on Friday with playing rookie shortstop Brent Lillibridge, Mets reject Ruben Gotay at third base and Greg Norton at designated hitter because Jair Jurrjens threw a shutout. It's asking a lot for Tim Hudson to duplicate Jurrjens' eight-inning effort. Hudson has been terrible in interleague competition since joining the Braves in 2005. Prior to his last interleague start, Hudson was 0-10 with a 7.82 ERA versus American League clubs.
The wildcard in this matchup is Toronto starting pitcher John Parrish. The 30-year-old left-hander does have major league experience. He had been pitching for Syracuse in Triple-A where he was 10-1 with a 2.74 ERA and a 92-to-35 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Braves have never faced him and are 12-16 against left-handers.
Considering the Braves' poor road mark, inability to win without leading hitter Jones and their weakness at two infield spots and DH, the underdog Blue Jays are worth a shot.
Free Pick: Blue Jays +120