Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
ATL	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	4	9	0
NYY	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	—	5	8	0

The Braves have won 5 straight and 7 of their last 7 overall, and Saturday's series opener at Yankee Stadium hands the ball to the guy most responsible for it. Chris Sale (12-6, 2.08 ERA) faces Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.42 ERA) at 3:05 PM ET, with Atlanta trying to keep the roll going against a Yankees team that's lost 3 of its last 5.

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ML

Total

Braves(70-45)

WWWWW

4

-1.5+125-141o7.5-102

Yankees(64-51)

LWLWL

5

+1.5-127+138u7.5+102

Best BetBraves -150

Pregame

Atlanta's the pick here, full stop. Sale is pitching like a Cy Young frontrunner, the Braves are riding a 7-game win streak, and the Yankees are trying to win games without Judge, Bellinger, Stanton or Rodon. This is about as clean a moneyline spot as the schedule offers.

New York is missing a staggering chunk of its lineup. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodon are all on the injured list, and the offense has shown it in flashes — a 13-run outburst against St. Louis sandwiched between a shutout loss and a 1-3 defeat. Cole's last time out was solid (5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 K against the Cubs), but he's needed to be near-perfect with so little thunder behind him.

Chris Sale

(12-9)·2.20 ERA

Jul 29 @ Mets

W

6.0IP

0ER

9K

0BB

94P

08/08 Lineup

Gerrit Cole

(7-6)·3.11 ERA

Aug 2 @ Cubs

W

5.2IP

1ER

5K

3BB

99P

08/08 Lineup

Atlanta's own health picture isn't clean either. The bullpen is running thin with Robert Suarez, Reynaldo Lopez and Joe Jimenez all out, and the rotation behind Sale is without Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach. None of that has slowed the offense, which has scored at least 4 runs in every game during the current streak.

Atlanta Braves

(70-45)

Aug 6Wvs Marlins11-3

Aug 5Wvs Marlins4-1

Aug 4Wvs Marlins4-2

Aug 2Wvs Nationals4-2

Aug 1Wvs Nationals8-3

New York Yankees

(64-51)

Aug 5Lvs Cardinals1-3

Aug 4Wvs Cardinals2-0

Aug 3Lvs Cardinals7-13

Aug 2W@ Cubs2-1

Aug 1L@ Cubs2-5

Sale at 37 is putting together one of the best age-37 seasons any pitcher has had in decades, and he's coming off a start where he didn't allow a run in 6 innings against the Mets. That kind of form against a Yankees lineup missing 4 regulars is about as favorable a matchup as a starter gets in August.

Atlanta Braves

(7)

• 15-Day-ILRobert Suarez (RP) — Suarez (forearm) has yet to increase the intensity of his throwing program as Atlanta takes a cautious approach with his recovery, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.08/06
• 15-Day-ILReynaldo Lopez (RP) — Lopez (knee) underwent an MRI on Sunday that showed no structural damage, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.08/02
• suspensionJurickson Profar (LF) — Profar will miss the full 2026 season after the appeal of his 162-game PED suspension was denied Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Strider (SP) — Strider (elbow) appears unlikely to pitch again in 2026, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.08/02
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Schwellenbach (SP) — Schwellenbach (elbow) will likely throw a few more bullpen sessions before being cleared to face live hitters, and he hasn't yet regained his full velocity, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.08/01
• 60-Day-ILJoe Jimenez (RP) — Atlanta manager Walt Weiss revealed Wednesday that Jimenez underwent another surgery on his left knee 3-to-4 weeks ago, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports.05/13
• 60-Day-ILJoey Wentz (RP) — Atlanta placed Wentz (knee) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.05/08

New York Yankees

(5)

• 10-Day-ILCody Bellinger (LF) — Bellinger (hamstring) has been doing some outdoor running while also hitting and throwing, per MLB.com.08/04
• 10-Day-ILGiancarlo Stanton (DH) — Stanton (calf) took swings against Carlos Rodon (elbow) on Monday, MLB.com reports.08/04
• 15-Day-ILCarlos Rodon (SP) — Manager Aaron Boone said Rodon (elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Saturday, likely with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.08/04
• 60-Day-ILClarke Schmidt (SP) — Manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday that he expects Schmidt (elbow/forearm) to play catch Thursday, Jorge Castillo of ESPN.com reports.08/05
• 60-Day-ILAaron Judge (RF) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday that Judge (rib) has been cleared to begin light activities, which includes outdoor running and upper-body resistance work, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.08/05

Yankee Stadium's short porch has bailed out plenty of banged-up lineups before, and Cole's stuff is still good enough to keep this competitive on paper. But Atlanta is playing its best baseball of the season at the worst possible time for a Yankees team trying to piece together enough offense to matter.