San Francisco Giants vs Atlanta Braves Prediction: The better side has the best chance here

On Saturday, Major League Baseball action will be broadcast live from Oracle Park with the first game of a three-game series between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants. Who will be the first to draw blood when it comes to this pitcher's duel?

With an 8-6 victory in extra innings on Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants were able to avoid being swept in the series and secure a victory for themselves. Following the victory, the San Francisco Giants improved their overall record to 66-61, which places them 12.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and 0.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the fight for the National League Wild Card. J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto each have 15 home runs for the San Francisco Giants this season. Wilmer Flores leads the team with 18 home runs, while J.D. Davis has posted 96 hits and a team-high 57 RBIs. Michael Conforto is tied for second with 14 home runs. This season, Conforto has 55 runs batted in, while LaMonte Wade Jr. has a batting average of.256 and an on-base percentage of.378. The San Francisco Giants' Thairo Estrada is now in the lead with 100 hits for the season. This game will be started by Logan Webb, who has a record of 9-9 on the season with a 3.36 ERA and 162 strikeouts.

The Atlanta Braves turned in a strong performance and won the series against the New York Mets by claiming a 7-0 victory over the Mets in Wednesday's game that served as the series finale. After the victory, the Braves improved their overall record to 82-44 for the season, elevating them to first place in the National League East by a 13.5-game margin over the Philadelphia Phillies. Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the Braves with 169 hits, a batting average of.335, and 58 stolen bases, which puts him in first place in Major League Baseball for that metric. Acuna Jr. also has 28 home runs and 74 RBIs so far this season, but Matt Olson is leading the Atlanta Braves in both categories with 43 home runs and 108 RBIs. Austin Riley has contributed 29 home runs to the Braves' total so far this season, and Eddie Rosario, Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy, and Marcell Ozuna are the other four Braves batters who have hit 20 or more home runs. For the Atlanta Braves, the game will be started by Spencer Strider, who has a record of 14-4, a 3.57 earned run average, and 227 strikeouts so far this season.

I'm going to continue to back the Atlanta Braves in this contest. I understand that Webb has pitched incredibly effectively at home in a stadium that favors pitchers, at Oracle; yet, herein lies the dilemma. Even if this turns into a pitcher's duel between Strider and Webb, the Atlanta Braves have the better bullpen, and the San Francisco Giants have developed into somewhat of a weakness in recent weeks. The Atlanta Braves continue to be one of the strongest teams in baseball against right-handed batters. My gut tells me that the Atlanta Braves are going to win this one, so give me the Braves.