The Milwaukee Brewers enter their third straight postseason having lost five of their past six games but have ace and potential Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes on the mound for Game 1 of their NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.
Burnes led all qualifying NL starting pitchers in ERA with a 2.43 along with fewest home runs per nine innings allowed at 0.4. He also struck out 12.6 batters per nine innings, compared to 1.8 walks, and the Brewers won all 12 of his post-All-Star Game starts prior to a two-inning tuneup vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 2.
The Braves counter with Charlie Morton, who has a 3.06 road ERA and 8-3 record with four home runs allowed in 88 ¹/₃ innings compared to a 3.61 home ERA with 12 home runs allowed in 97 ¹/₃ innings. But the team is just 3-5 in his last eight starts, going 1-3 in his three road starts in that span.
The Brewers are 64-35 in games in which Willy Adames plays. After he made his debut for Milwaukee on May 22, the Brewers have averaged 4.9 runs per game and their batting average rose to .241 after averaging 3.66 runs per game with a .213 batting average prior to the acquisition.
The Braves are 9-17 in their last 26 games as a road underdog. The Brewers have a 3.43 team ERA, which ranks third in MLB, and they will take the opener of this best-of-five series.
The play: Brewers, -145.
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