Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals 8/27/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The St. Louis Cardinals host the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, Aug. 27, for the second game of a three-game series. The Braves won three of four from the Cardinals in early July, with the only loss coming in extra innings in the series finale. National League Central leading St. Louis was 72-53 entering Friday night’s contest. Atlanta was 78-48, two games behind the first-place New York Mets in the NL East.

The Cardinals have lefthander Jordan Montgomery starting, while the Braves counter with righthander Charlie Morton. Montgomery has been near perfect since St. Louis acquired him from the New York Yankees in an Aug. 2 trade, winning all four of his starts and allowing just one run over 25.2 innings. Morton had a rough start to the season, but he has been fantastic in August with a 2.49 earned run average over four starts.

Both clubs can fill up the scoreboard on offense. Atlanta ranks third overall in runs scored with 622, but the Cardinals are just one spot behind with 609. St. Louis has really been hitting the ball well since the All-Star break, leading all of MLB with an .860 OPS over 31 games.

Austin Riley leads the Braves regulars with 31 HRs and an OPS of .905. Riley has battered lefties (.363 AVG, .443        OBP, .770 SLG). St. Louis MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt bests Riley with 33 HRs and an OPS of 1.057. It remains to be seen if the Cardinals will be without start third baseman Nolan Arenado again, as he was placed paternity leave Friday but left the team after Wednesday’s game.