The Cleveland Guardians host the Atlanta Braves on August 16, 2025. First pitch from Progressive Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT; the game will be broadcast on CLEG.
The Braves shut out the Guardians yesterday in the first game of this series, and will start Joey Wentz tonight. Slade Cecconi will oppose him for Cleveland.
Find my MLB betting preview and Braves vs Guardians prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, betting trends, injury reports and more.
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- Braves vs Guardians pick: Under 8.5 (-110)
My Braves vs Guardians best bet is Under 8.5 total runs in this game. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
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Braves vs Guardians Odds
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Braves vs Guardians Projected Starting Pitchers
| LHP Joey Wentz (ATL) | Stat | RHP Slade Cecconi (CLE) |
|---|---|---|
| 3-3 | W-L | 5-5 |
| 0.6 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 0.3 |
| 5.03 / 4.14 | ERA / xERA | 4.11 / 5.47 |
| 4.11 / 4.72 | FIP / xFIP | 4.75 / 4.05 |
| 1.44 | WHIP | 1.25 |
| 8.7 | K-BB% | 13.7 |
| 39.8 | GB% | 40.4 |
| 92 | Stuff+ | 90 |
| 101 | Location+ | 102 |
Braves vs Guardians Preview
Tonight’s starting pitchers induce a lot of groundballs, both around 40%, and the first game of this series only produced two runs yesterday.
The Guardians offense has been unimpressive throughout the year, ranking 26th in wRC+ with an 89 rating.
Braves starter Joey Wentz has a 2.83 ERA in his last seven outings. He performs much better on the road with a 3.66 away ERA compared to his 6.46 ERA at home.
Wentz is also coming off a solid start against the Marlins. He gave up just one run and four hits in five and 1/3 innings.
Our Bet Labs recommendation is to go with the under tonight.
Braves vs Guardians Prediction, Betting Analysis
[betlabsembed systemid=”1474950″ systemname=”Evan Abrams – Under After Low Scoring Game in Series, Short Term (YEAR)” leaguename=”mlb” filters=”%7B%22list%22%3A%5B%22the%20Visiting%20teams’%201%20Game%20points%20scored%20streak%20is%20between%200%20and%202%22%2C%22the%20Home%20teams’%201%20Game%20points%20scored%20streak%20is%20between%200%20and%202%22%2C%22the%20series%20game%20%23%20is%20between%202%20and%20100%22%2C%22betting%20on%20the%20Under%22%2C%22the%20game%20is%20played%20during%20the%20Regular%20season%22%2C%22the%20game%20was%20played%20during%20the%202025%20or%202024%20or%202023%20or%202022%20or%202021%20or%202020%20or%202019%20or%202018%20season%22%5D%7D” amountwon=”$9,631″ record=”503-374-33″ winpct=”57%”][/betlabsembed]
This system targets MLB regular-season games where both teams are coming off low-scoring performances (0 to 2 runs scored in their previous game) within the same series.
These matchups tend to reflect strong pitching or cold offenses, and the market may not adjust the total downward enough in time.
This strategy filters for more recent seasons to reflect current scoring environments and pitcher usage trends.
Betting the under in these situations has shown consistent short-term profitability.
Pick: Under 8.5 (-110, BetMGM)
Braves vs Guardians Betting Trends
[bettingtrends title=”” gameid=”259133″ date=”20250816″][/bettingtrends]
[subheader sizedown=”true” text=”Braves vs Guardians Weather” center=”false”][/subheader]
[gameforecast league=”mlb” gameid=”259133″ date=”20250816″][/gameforecast]
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