Braves vs. Brewers Best Bets: Two Picks for Friday’s Pitching Duel

The Atlanta Braves (75-53) and Milwaukee Brewers (79-49) kick off a three-game series at American Family Field on Friday at 4:10 p.m. ET, and the series will wrap up at the 2026 MLB Little League Classic on Sunday Night Baseball at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Penn.

While a lot of baseball fans might be looking forward to the series finale on Sunday, the series opener Friday might be an instant classic in its own right.

The Braves turn to LHP Chris Sale (12-8, 2.16 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) for his 23rd start of the season. He has been very consistent this season, and while he is just 5-5 with a 2.69 ERA and 1.02 WHIP across 63 ⅔ IP in 11 road starts, he is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 40 ⅔ IP across seven daytime starts.

Sale faced the Brewers June 20 in Atlanta, allowing two unearned runs, five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts across 5 ⅔ IP in a no-decision as the Braves picked up a 4-3 win.

For the Brewers, they’ll counter with RHP Jacob Misiorowski (12-5, 1.75 ERA, 0.75 WHIP), who has been dominant across 23 starts over 139 IP. While he has a 2.48 ERA in his past seven starts over 40 IP, his WHIP is still 0.70 during the span. At home, Misiorowski is 6-1 with a 1.75 ERA and 0.76 WHIP, and he has allowed just three homers at AFF across 77 1/3 IP in 13 home starts.

Misiorowski allowed two runs, five hits and a walk across six innings in a 3-2 road loss on June 19.

Atlanta has managed a 33-30 record on the road, while posting a plus-112 run differential, the third-best mark in the majors. The Braves are a solid 13-8 against the NL Central this season, too.

Milwaukee is 43-23 at home, while it leads MLB with a plus-159 run differential. For the Brewers, they’re 12-9 against NL East foes, while going 24-12 against left-handed starting pitchers in 2026.

After getting swept on the road by the Minnesota Twins earlier in the week, the Braves won 2-0 in a make-up game on the road against the Chicago White Sox Thursday. The Under has cashed in four of the past five games. The Under has cashed in Sale’s past five road starts, too.

While the Brewers come in on a 4-0 run to the Over, the last time the Under cashed was last Tuesday in Misorowski’s most recent start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a 4-1 win. The Under is 2-0-1 in the past three starts by Misiorowski.

While Misiorowski is a high-strikeout pitcher, the Braves are 20th in the majors with just 1,038 strikeouts as a team, or 8.1 per game. Let’s go with MISIOROWSKI - UNDER 8.5 STRIKEOUTS (+116) at plus-money. And, let’s also go UNDER 6.5 (-120), and hope both pitchers live up to the duel expectations.