The series we’ve all been waiting for – the World Series! The Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros have fought off all the competition and now it’s down to a seven game series to determine who will be crowned the 2021 World Series champions. It’s Game Two of the World Series, and currently the Braves are leading the series, 1-0. Looking at the outright World Series winner, the Braves are now currently the favorites, at -155, with the Astros the underdogs, at +135.
Look below to find our free MLB picks for tonight’s World Series Game Two between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros!
Atlanta Braves @ Houston Astros (Game 2) – 8.09pm EDT
The Astros never really looked like they were in the first game, and their highly praised offense never got into its groove. The Braves ended up winning the first game 6-2, and they will be back again in the Lone Star State to try and steal another game on the road, before the series heads on over to Atlanta. Can the Astros bounce back and level the series, or will the Braves take a 2-0 lead?
Tim Newton
I was with the Braves in Game One and I see no reason to jump off in Game Two! While I expect Houston to show a bit more fight than they did last night, only managing two runs, I see no reason as to why Atlanta can’t take a 2-0 series lead on the road.
They recorded four more hits than the Astros (12-8) and, once again, have a better starting pitcher for tonight’s game. While Max Fried gave up five runs to the Dodgers in his last outing, from just 4.2 innings of work, he only gave up two runs in his previous 12 innings, spanned across two games.
Game 1 ☑️#BattleATL pic.twitter.com/xoTheQKDmC
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 27, 2021
When comparing that to Jose Urquidy, Houston’s starter, I would much prefer to be with Fried. Urquidy has only seen one game so far this postseason, giving up six runs on five hits in just 1.2 innings of work. While that is a small sample size, his regular season ERA was worse than Fried’s (3.62 v 3.04) and his overall postseason ERA, from nine games and five starts, is 4.28.
Houston’s batting lineup is one of the best in the league, and they should do better than just two runs moving forward, but I am sticking with the Braves after their impressive Game One victory.
Tim’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (-102)
Katherine Mouradian
It was quite surprising to see the Braves fire up and not leave the massive offensive powerhouse that is the Astros in with even a sniff of getting back into the game. The Braves got the all important win in the first game of the World Series and they will be looking to back up again in Game Two.
A very impressive win by the clinical Braves, and they have certainly got all the momentum after knocking out the reigning champs, the Dodgers in the NLCS, and now winning the first game of the World Series. We will see Fried on the mound for the Braves in Game Two, and this will be his fourth start in the postseason this year. Fried also had 28 regular season starts, and finished the year with a record of 14-7, with an ERA of 3.04, a WHIP of 1.087, along with 41 walks and 158 strikeouts across 165.2 innings. In the postseason, his record is 1-1, with an ERA of 3.78, a WHIP of 1.26, along with two walks and 17 strikeouts, across 16.2 innings. He wasn’t the best in his last start, in Game Five of the NLCS, where he threw 4.2 innings and allowed five runs over eight hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. This will also be his first start at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros were less than impressive in Game One of the World Series, but will look for Urquidy, who will be starting on the mound, to steer the Astros ship in the right direction. This will be Urquidy’s second postseason start, and he had 20 regular season starts as well in this 2021 season. Over the regular season, he finished with a 8-3 record, a 3.62 ERA, a 0.991 WHIP, along with 19 walks and 90 strikeouts, across 107 innings. Looking at just his 2021 postseason performances, he has a record of 0-1, with a 27.00 ERA, a 4.20 WHIP, along with two walks and one strikeout. In Urquidy’s last start, in Game Three of the ALCS, he threw 1.2 innings, and in that short period of time allowed six runs across five hits, which also included two walks and one strikeout.
This is the third time in the last five years that the Astros have made it through to the World Series, so they are very experienced in that department, but at the moment the Braves have all the momentum. The Astros pitchers seem to be crumbling, and it has become a lot more noticeable in the last game, as the batters didn’t manage to get them out of trouble. If you take out Fried’s last game against the Dodgers, he has been on fire as of late, and I like him to help steer the Braves to another victory on the road.
Katherine’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (-102)
Mike Su
The Braves shock the Astros in game 1 with a resounding 6-2 win. The Braves started the game firing with 5 runs in the first 3 innings, which the Astros were never able to recover from. Although the Astros were able to scrounge 2 runs, they looked weak and surprised by the fast scoring Braves. The Astros will be looking for answers going into game 2 as their league best batting attack scored just 2 runs. The Astros did manage 8 hits and were only struck out 11 times, which isn’t horrible compared to the Braves’ 12 hits and 12 strikeouts. Framber Valdez played poorly, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs in a little over 2 innings.
The Astros likely won’t let the Braves come out to a quick start again. The Astros will be starting Jose Urquidy to try and prevent the Braves taking a 2 game lead in the series. Urquidy has been decent this season with a 3.62 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. Urquidy will be looking to bounce back from a bad pitching performance against the Red Sox where he allowed 6 runs in 1.2 innings. If Urquidy repeats this performance, the Braves will repeat their game 1 festivities.
.@JoseAltuve27‘s flashing the leather in Game 1. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/ygnUTwWR0H
— MLB (@MLB) October 27, 2021
The Braves will be starting Max Fried to try to take a 2 game lead in the series before heading back to Atlanta. Fried has been great this season with a 3.04 ERA and 1.09 WHIP leading to a 14-7 record. Just like Urquidy, Fried will be looking to recover from a bad performance in his last game. In his last game, Fried allowed 8 hits and 5 runs in 4 innings against the Dodgers.
Overall I actually like how the Braves have come out. The Braves have faced tougher competition and risen above them every time during these playoffs. I have to go with the Braves here.
Mike’s MLB Pick: Atlanta Braves (-102)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
