Atlanta Braves vs Oakland Athletics

Atlanta snapped a two-game skid with a 4-2 win over Oakland on Friday that featured a two-run double by Jarred Kelenic and the Athletics lost their third in a row and fell to 10-20 on the road. The Braves are 18-11 at home and will start Chris Sale, who has been even better than hoped for this season as he is 8-1 with a 2.12 ERA and an 0.85 WHIP. Atlanta has won his past seven starts overall and his past six home starts. Sale has allowed only 15 runs in 63 2/3 innings with 78 strikeouts. Oakland batters are a combined 1-for-16 against him. Aaron Brooks has made three starts this season and allowed 11 runs (seven earned) on 22 hits in 17 1/3 innings. Atlanta is 32-20 UNDER this year and the Athletics have gone UNDER five of six. The UNDER is 7-0 in the Braves' past seven games versus teams with below .400 winning percentages and Oakland is 7-0 UNDER in Brooks' past seven games as an underdog. Take the Braves as a Max Play and the UNDER.

Oakland plays its fourth straight road game a long way from home on a 4-13 slide. The offense is 26th in runs scored and 28th in on-base percentage, while the pitching is 23rd in ERA (4.23). Starter J.P. Sears has a 4.28 ERA away from home. The A's are 10-19 on the road, 48-109 versus righty starters, plus 12-43 against teams with a bullpen ERA of 3.45 or better. Atlanta's offense is seventh in on-base percentage and eighth in slugging, while the pitching is seventh in ERA (3.47) and fourth in the pen (3.23 ERA). Reynaldo Lopez (1.75 ERA) has a 1.21 ERA at home where he's holding batters to a .190 average. The Braves are 17-1 after losing five or six of their last seven, so back home field. Play Atlanta. 

Atlanta plays its third straight game on the West Coast. Because of so many injuries to the Atlanta starting rotation, rookie Jared Shuster (5.33 ERA) has to start again. He's walked 15 in 25+ innings and is winless on the road with a 6.52 ERA. Oakland plays its sixth consecutive home game and has won the first two of this series, 7-2 and 2-1, as underdogs of +215 and +210. Play Oakland.