Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies Prediction: Can the Phillies stun Braves?

This Saturday's Major League Baseball Division Series playoff game will take place at SunTrust Park and feature a matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves. This is going to be the first game of a best-of-five series. The Philadelphia Phillies have just completed a Wild Card series against the Miami Marlins, in which they triumphed in each game of the series to advance. The Atlanta Braves concluded the season with an overall record of 104-58, which was good enough to win the National League Central division by a margin of 14 games.

The Atlanta Braves finished the season with 307 home runs, which was the most in the league and made them the dominant team in terms of hitting power. Additionally, Atlanta topped Major League Baseball in hits (1543), runs (947), and RBI (916). Matt Olson led the league with 54 home runs and 139 RBI, while Ronald Acuna was a significant contributor with 41 home runs and 106 RBI. Olson also led the league in home runs. With 179 hits to his name, Austin Riley was tied for sixth place in Major League Baseball. It goes without saying that the Braves have an extremely potent offense. The Atlanta Braves have decided to go with Spencer Strider as their starting pitcher for Game 1 of the Division Series. In 32 starts this season, Strider posted a 20-5 record with a 3.86 earned run average (ERA). Strider's only career postseason start resulted in a loss, and he just lasted 2.1 innings of the game.

In the Wild Card contests that took place this week, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins didn't have a lot of trouble with each other. Zack Wheeler had a strong start for the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday's game, which resulted in a 4-1 victory for the team (6.2 innings; one earned run). The Philadelphia Phillies were victorious once again on Wednesday, this time by a score of 7-1 in game two. In the sixth inning, Bryson Stott struck an important grand slam, and JT Realmuto managed to hit a solo home run while also collecting two hits. The Philadelphia Phillies are going to use Ranger Suarez as their starting pitcher for the game on Sunday. In 22 starts this season, Suarez had a record of 4-6 and a 4.18 earned run average (ERA). In five career playoff games (three starts), Suarez has a record of 2-0 with a postseason earned run average of 1.23.

In this matchup, I'm going to continue to back the Atlanta Braves. If the Atlanta Braves are able to keep their rhythm despite having an additional day off this week, the batters should be able to generate quite a few opportunities for runners to advance to second and third base along the road. When Strider takes the mound for the Atlanta Braves, things should be looking up for the team. Strider has a career record of 7-0 against the Philadelphia Phillies, with an earned run average of 2.01 in those seven starts. During this season, he had a perfect record versus Philadelphia, going 3-0 with a 1.45 earned run average. Concerning the Phillies, it will be fascinating to observe what Suarez is able to accomplish in this situation. Suarez was the starting pitcher for Game 1 of the 2022 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves. Despite having trouble avoiding free passes, he ended up walking five batters over the course of 3.1 innings. (Philadelphia did not lose.) Suarez's last two starts of the regular season resulted in an earned run average of 7.94; thus, it will be important for him to have a strong rebound performance. I think he'll end up winning, but I think Atlanta Braves have a higher chance of victory.