MLB Division Series: Free MLB Picks Today for Saturday, October 9th, 2021

MLB Division Series: Free MLB Picks Today for Saturday, October 9th, 2021
Sat 9th October 2021

The season is over and the playoffs are here! We have previewed the two NLDS Game 2s and found our best MLB picks for each!

Both the Brewers and Giants got off to a great start, winning Game One yesterday and taking momentum into this clash. 

Look below to find our free MLB Picks for today’s two National League Division Series playoff games.

Atlanta Braves @ Milwaukee Brewers (Game 2) – 5pm EDT

This Saturday evening game between the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers will be the second clash of the Division Series. The Brewers got the victory in the first game, played in Milwaukee, winning 2-1. The Brewers will be looking to take a 2-0 lead in the series before heading over to Atlanta for the third game.

Tim Newton

Well the Brewers won in a low scoring tight one, much as I predicted. The strengths of both sides are their pitching crews and that was on show in Game One, and I expect the same to happen again in Game Two. 

Atlanta have Max Fried starting on the mound and he has been incredible this season. His 28 games have returned a 14-7 record with a 3.04 ERA and then looking at how he ended the season, he has improved to 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA over his last seven games. Across 47 innings, in that seven game stretch, he gave up only 10 runs while scoring 41 strikeouts.

Things get even better with Milwaukee, given they have Brandon Woodruff starting for them. While his record sits at ust 9-10, he has a 2.56 ERA and 0.96 from his 30 starts during the regular season. He has been a bit more wayward to end the season though, giving up 17 runs across 39 innings in his last seven games. Does that present an option for Atlanta to take advantage of what looks to be a low scoring series? 

Given the low scoring and close nature of last night, I definitely think the Braves could show a bit more in this game given Woodruff’s late season form. 

Tim’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves +1.5 (-200)

Katherine Mouradian

The Brewers ended up winning in a very tight, and low scoring affair. The game was completely dominated by the pitchers and the Braves only managed four hits in total for the entire game, and the Brewers with five. All the runs in this game came from homers, with Tellez scoring a two run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Brewers a lead that they would keep for the rest of the game.


Let’s talk about the Braves hitters in the first game, as it was pretty interesting to see they only managed four hits and one run, considering that during the regular season they hit for an average of .244, which put them 12th in the league, and they also had a slugging percentage of .435, which actually put them fifth in the league. Something to take away from the first game for the Braves was how good the pitchers were for them. It was just one single pitch that ruined the entire game for them. Fried will be the starting pitcher for the Braves in this clash, and throughout the regular season he had a 14-7 record with a 3.04 ERA and 158 strikeouts.

A two run homer was all that was needed for the Brewers to win the first game, but if you look at their regular season batting averages, they aren’t as good as the Braves. The Brewers have a batting average of .233, which puts them 27th in the league, along with a slugging percentage of .396, which puts them 23rd in the league. It was the pitchers for the Brewers, like with the Braves, that carried the team in the first game. Woodruff will be the starting pitcher for the Brewers and he has a regular season record of 9-10 with a 2.56 ERA along with 211 strikeouts.

I’m going to go with the Braves for this one. Fried has performed very well in his previous four starts (which the Braves won all four), allowing just five runs on 14 hits across 29 innings. The Braves record on the road, also proves that the first game might have just been a fluke, they have won 21 of their previous 31 games on the road. In this season Woodruff had one start against the Braves, he ended up giving three runs on eight hits in just over five innings, in what was a Braves victory, 8-1. Take the Braves here.

Katherine’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (+114)

Mike Su

After losing a tight one to the Brewers, the Braves are looking to try to steal a win before they head to Atlanta to continue the series. The Braves held the Brewers to just 2 in a great defensive effort but couldn’t put up the necessary points to secure a win. The Braves will be utilizing the skills of their best pitcher, Max Fried to try and steal game 2. Fried has been great this season with a 3.04 ERA and 159 strikeouts. Fried should be able to replicate the effort of Charlie Morton and hold the Brewers to a low run total.

The key to this matchup will be the Braves batting unit. The Braves were decent this season ranking in the top half of the MLB in terms of runs per game, but that strong hitting hasn’t been evident thus far in the playoffs. For the Braves to stand a chance they’ll need a big game from their hitters. For the Brewers, they will be starting Brandon Woodruff who has a great 2.56 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 211 strikeouts. This will make a Braves batting bounce back unlikely. This will likely end up as another low scoring affair with 2 strong pitchers in play.

Mike’s MLB Pick: Under 7.5 (-120)
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Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants (Game 2) – 9pm EDT

This Saturday evening game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants will be the second clash of the Division Series. The Giants got the victory in the first game, played in San Francisco, winning 4-0. The Giants will be looking to take a 2-0 lead in the series before heading over to Los Angeles for the third game.

Tim Newton

With the Giants scoring two of Buehler’s first inning last night, the tone has been set for this series. San Francisco wanted to prove they deserved the #1 seed but I expect the Dodgers to show why they are the defending champs in Game Two.

Kevin Gausman has been rock solid this season with a 14-6 record and 2.81 ERA but that ERA has ballooned out to 4.05 over his last seven games. Over that stretch he had four games where he gave up 3+ runs, meaning LA’s incredible batting lineup should be able to take advantage of that.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have Julio Urias starting for them and he has been world-class this season. His 32 games returned a 20-3 record and 2.96 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. However, when looking at his last seven games he has only gotten better. He has a 6-0 record and 2.20 ERA over that stretch, only giving up 10 runs across 41 innings of work. 

While a 4-0 result is massive in the playoffs, LA have the class and ability to bounce back, which I think they will in this one.

Tim’s MLB Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers (-108)

Katherine Mouradian

At the time of writing, the oddsmakers can’t split these two teams, with Fanduel offering -108 moneyline for both the Dodgers and the Giants! It was surprising to watch the Dodgers struggle stepping up to the plate and they didn’t even get one run on the board. They will be desperate to change the story and get a win on the board before heading to Los Angeles for two further games in the Division Series.


The Dodgers weren’t able to get their offense clicking into gear, and they have scored 13 runs in their previous three games, with three or less runs in half of their last 10 games. When they score three or less runs, they have won three of their previous six games. Like the Dodgers have done many times this season, they will be relying on Betts to help get them out of this minor offensive slump they find themselves in. Urias will be the starting pitcher for the Dodgers as in the regular season he went 20-3 and had a 2.96 ERA along with 195 strikeouts. 

The Giants victory can be attributed to the great work done by Webb, keeping the Dodgers scoreless in a game is no easy feat! The Giants have managed to score 17 runs in their previous three games, and in seven of their previous 10 clashes, they have put on four or more runs on the board. When they score four or more runs, they have won 10 of their previous 11 games. Gausman will be starting on the mound for the Giants, and he has 14-6 with a 2.81 ERA along with 227 strikeouts throughout the regular season. 

The Dodgers need Urias to perform like he has all season long, especially like his games against the Giants. He has managed to hold the Giants hitters to a .191 batting average in 171 at bats along with 48 strikeouts. Gausman is not to be disregarded however, despite having a difficult September, he still allowed only nine hits for two runs over his previous 13 innings. The Dodgers are better than the 4-0 first game scoreline showed, and I think they have enough in them to rise up and take the second game from the Giants who will be playing at home. Take a punt on the Dodgers for this one.

Katherine’s MLB Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers (-108)

Mike Su

The Dodgers were embarrassed in game 1 of their playoff run. The Giants beat them 4-0 and shut out the Dodgers top 4 batting unit. This was surprisingly uncharacteristic for the powerhouse Dodgers. In 19 games during the regular season the Dodgers were only shut out once by the Giants soI don’t expect this to happen again. The Dodgers should put up points on the board. In this crucial game, the Dodgers will be starting Julio Urias who leads the league in wins with 20. Urias has a 2.96 ERA and 195 strikeouts this season and will be able to subdue the Giants and their top 6 batting unit.

The Giants will be starting their best pitcher Kevin Gausman to try to repeat the defensive clinic from game 1. Gausman has been great with a 2.81 ERA and 227 strikeouts this season. Gausman has been good against the Dodgers this season as well with just 5 allowed runs and 16 strikeouts in 14 innings.Despite this, the pitching is quite even in my opinion and it will come down to the hitting. I firmly believe the Dodgers will win it all this season and this game 2 will be a great game to show that they mean business. Dodgers win this in a tight game.

Mike’s MLB Pick:  Los Angeles Dodgers (-108)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.

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