Free MLB NLCS Game 1 Pick: Dodgers vs. Braves Odds
Looking for LA Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves free mlb predictions? MLB betting sees the Dodgers taking on the Braves on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all MLB baseball matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily MLB predictions like this Dodgers Braves NLCS free pick.
2021 MLB NLCS Handicapping
(0-0) LA Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves (0-0)
Date: Saturday, October 16, 2021
Time: 8:07 PM ET
Venue: Truist Park
Projected Pitchers: Knebel vs. Fried
MLB Moneyline Odds: Los Angeles -125 / Atlanta +110 (Bet Now!)
MLB RunLine Betting Odds: Dodgers -1.5 +140 / Braves +1.5 -155
MLB Baseball Gambling Total: O/U 8
The Dodgers will have to quickly recover from the emotional Game 5 NLDS win over the Giants that landed them in the 2021 NLCS… For the second straight campaign the Dodgers will now be playing for a World Series appearance and the only thing standing in the way are the Braves.
The Dodgers staved off a pair of elimination games after going down 2 – 1 to the San Francisco Giants as the two best teams in baseball gave us a wild 5-game series. Max Scherzer picked up his first-ever big league save to close the door and I do believe that he broke 11 ribs chest-bumping anyone in sight afterward.
The Braves only allowed the Brewers to score 6 runs through the 4-game NLDS series that earned Atlanta their NLCS bid. After losing game 1 the Braves reeled off three straight wins taking momentum into this NLCS with a few days off to set their pitching staff to boot.
The Dodgers do not have the same luxury, however, as they threw the kitchen sink at the Giants in game 5 and now have to re-think the rotation for this deciding series that will put one of these teams closer to the hardware.
(Late edit: It looks like it Knebel vs Fried as Scherzer is apparently not going to start the NLCS for LA – That means the pick has been updated with that news)
LA Dodgers
The Dodgers are halfway to making their 25th World Series appearance and this is obviously MLBs defending champion from a strange 2020 season. The Dodgers have earned 7 big trophies from the previous 24 showings in the Fall Classic, but they have never won back-to-back World Series titles.
Getting here was no easy task after going down 2 – 1 to the San Francisco Giants, but this team has done well staving off elimination recently. The Dodgers post-season record in their history is now 10 – 6 in winner-take-all games and 6 – 1 on the road on the brink of being ousted from the playoffs.
Mookie Betts just picked up another hit and my goodness has that dude been a major contributor to this offense of late. The 4 hits in game 5 alone made a heavy impact on not only his but his teammate’s confidence as the night went on. They all knew like we did that Logan Webb was 7 – 0 in that park and the Giants were 13 – 0 in his starts in that park in 2021.
Just as the Braves go, the Dodgers go as well because this pitching staff also has the ability to shut down opposing offenses. Walker Buehler was stellar in the post-season even on short rest and Max Scherzer is likely going to take another Cy Young Award home. Jose Urias has all the confidence in the world right now and the Dodgers bullpen is safe and sound with Graterol and Jansen shutting it down.
Cody Bellinger picked an outstanding time to heat up as he made up for any regular season woes driving in the winning run in Thursday’s Game 5 win. He and Seager along with the Turner Boys can wreak havoc on any pitcher in baseball for the most part.
Everyone talks about the LA offense so much but sometimes it gets lost that this defense is the best in baseball, no questions asked! When you rank #1 in runs allowed, average against, and OPS, you have the formula for success!
Los Angeles is 50 – 34 on the road and the Braves are a mere 44 – 38 at home in Atlanta. Let’s make no mistake that the Dodgers are the team that has won 110 games thus far and 4 more of those will put them in a position to act like little kids in the middle of the diamond celebrating… Again!
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves’ history is even deeper than that of the LA Dodgers as they go back 150 years and 1871. That was, of course, under the Boston Braves and this team has done plenty of moving over all of these years. Most of the recent generations know the Milwaukee Braves and the Atlanta Braves. The move to Milwaukee happened in 1953 and the relocation down to Atlanta happened in 1966.
As the Atlanta Braves, the 1995 World Series is the lone title this team has earned but they have made plenty of post-season appearances here too. I don’t want to make this into one big history lesson so let me just add that the Atlanta Braves have been to 13 NLCS making 5 W.S appearances since 1966.
The Dodgers have their Max and so do the Braves! Max Fried gets the nod for this pivotal game 1 of the NLCS. We’ll call it pivotal because it will indeed give one of these teams an early leg up towards a World Series appearance.
Some folks will argue that Fried has the best curveball in the business, and whatever side you’re on the dude can simply hurl! He made two starts against the Dodgers in the regular season and struck out a combined 13 dudes with only 1 walk and 3 earned runs against him.
The first start against LA on June 6 was a big win for him because it got his record to 3 – 3 and the jury was still in about what Fried was bringing to the rotation early. Fried has now gone 12 starts without a loss entering this big game with an 8 – 0 record since the calendar turned to August.
The Dodgers defense is the best, but the Braves aren’t all that far behind with the leather ranking in the top-10 in most of the major categories. The Braves are ranked 7th in runs allowed (4.19) and 9th in both opposing average and OPS.
The Braves and Dodgers each average .244 and each are in the top-4 with knocking balls out of the park.
MLB Baseball Betting Trends:
- Over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Atlanta.
- Over is 7-3 in Dodger’s last 10 playoff road games.
- Over is 7-3 in Dodger’s last 10 games as a favorite.
- Over is 4-1 in Braves’ last 5 playoff home games.
- Dodgers are 45-13 in their last 58 overall.
- Braves are 11-5 in their last 16 playoff games.
Free LA Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves MLB NLCS Game 1 Prediction:
I think everyone and their mother will be on Los Angeles after seeing them take out the Giants the way they did. That could be a little scary, but now that we know Scherzer is not getting the ball to start the series, we arre going Braves ML
4* Free MLB Betting Pick: Braves ML -105
The play is on the Braves to take game 1 with marginal juice on the board. Now that we expect it to be Knebel vs Max, we go with Atlanta at home to jump out to a 1 – 0 lead in the 2021 NLCS.
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