Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies 8/7/20 - MLB Picks & Predictions

Citizens Bank Park will play host to a Friday night MLB battle between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. Last night, OF Nick Markakis smashed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Atlanta to a 4-3 home victory versus Toronto. 1B Freddie Freeman added a solo shot for the Braves, who improved to 9-5 on the season.

Twenty-four year old righty Kyle Wright (0-1 7.50 ERA) will take the mound for the Braves in this matchup. Last time out, Wright allowed nine baserunners and recorded ten outs during a 4-0 home victory versus New York.

The Philadelphia Phillies missed about a week of action as a result of COVID-19 concerns and are looking to get back into the swing of things. On Thursday, C J.T. Realmuto crushed a three-run blast in the first inning and the Phillies added two more in the third inning of a 5-4 home victory versus the New York Yankees. OF Bryce Harper walked twice and scored twice for the Phillies, who moved to 3-4 overall. 

The Phillies will counter with hard-throwing righty Vince Velasquez (0-0 12.00 ERA) on Friday. In his first start, Velasquez allowed four runs and struck out four batters in three innings during an 11-6 loss versus Miami.