Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves Prediction: Favorites Braves should have their way

On Friday, Major League Baseball action will take place at Wrigley Field, featuring a matchup between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs. This week, the Atlanta Braves just completed a series against the Los Angeles Angels, in which they were victorious in two of the three games. Concerning the Chicago Cubs, their most recent series was against the Cincinnati Reds, and they were victorious in two of the first three games. The Chicago Cubs completed the game with a victory on Thursday by a score of two runs.

The Chicago Cubs lost to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday by a score of 6-5, but they came back to win the following two games by scores of 20-9 and 16-6 thanks to offensive explosions. In the win on Wednesday, Christopher Morel contributed a home run and three runs batted in. On Thursday, the Chicago Cubs won 5-3 after scoring three runs in the third inning of the game. Seven different players for the Chicago Cubs collected one hit each, and five different players (Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger, Morel, Jeimer Candelario, and Yan Gomes) contributed to the team's offense by driving in one run apiece. Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for the Chicago Cubs on Friday as the team's starting pitcher. Hendricks has a record of 4-5 with a 3.49 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched throughout the course of the 2023 season. In his previous seven starts, Hendricks has a record of 1-3 with a 4.22 ERA, 30 strikeouts, and 42.2 innings pitched.

The Atlanta Braves didn't play all that poorly against the Los Angeles Angels, despite losing to them on Monday by a score of 4-1. They went on to win the next two sets by scores of 5-1 and 12-5. The Atlanta Braves racked up 12 hits as a club and scored six runs in just the fourth inning of their dominating victory on Wednesday. Ozzie Albies contributed two hits and two runs batted in, while Ronald Acuna led the team with four runs, three hits, a home run, and three RBI. Max Fried is going to take the mound for the Braves on Friday as the team's starting pitcher. Fried has a record of 2-1 after five starts, with an earned run average of 2.08 and 25 strikeouts in 26.0 innings pitched. Fried is coming off a start against the Baltimore Orioles in early May in which he gave up five earned runs over the course of six innings of work.

The Atlanta Braves ought to get off to a good start and win this matchup. In spite of this, one may build a compelling argument for either side, particularly taking into account how thick the line is. Fried's last start, which was in May and took place against Baltimore, was not a particularly successful one (6.0 innings; five earned runs), but prior to that, he had been pitching quite successfully. Fried has been on the disabled list for almost three months due to an injury in his left forearm. However, after making four rehab appearances in the minors, he should be ready to return to action here. However, it will be necessary for him to slow down the Chicago Cubs offense. On Thursday, the Chicago offense turned in another strong performance, and the squad made the most of the seven hits it collected. There was no one bat that particularly jumped out; rather, it was a well-rounded effort that should position the Cubs well for their game on Friday. Despite this, I believe that this will be a close contest in which the Atlanta Braves have a high chance of winning.