Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
ATL	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	11	0
PIT	4	0	3	0	0	3	1	1	—	12	14	0

Skenes vs. Waldrep looked like a total mismatch on paper, and that wasn't even the real story. The 6:40 PM ET first pitch pitted a former Cy Young front-runner in the middle of the roughest stretch of his career against a rookie righty just weeks removed from elbow surgery, and neither guy's slump discriminated against the scoreboard.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Braves(52-37)

LLWWL

4

+1.5-150+133o7.5-133

Pirates(46-45)

WWLWL

12

-1.5+147-130u7.5+127

Best BetBraves +141

Postgame

This one backfired — Waldrep couldn't hold Pittsburgh down and the bullpen concerns that flagged the bear case never even got tested, since Atlanta trailed most of the way.

Pregame

We took the Braves at +146 on the strength of a lineup that had just dropped 29 runs on the Mets over 4 games, betting the bats would outweigh Waldrep's shaky rotation spot. Pittsburgh's price kept shortening pregame, but Atlanta's still the deeper roster with a first-place club behind it.

Pittsburgh caught Atlanta without a healthy top of the lineup — Ronald Acuna Jr. remains out on the 10-day IL and Ha-Seong Kim is still nursing a finger injury, thinning a Braves group that's already patching together a rotation without Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach. The Pirates have their own attrition to manage, with Endy Rodriguez out and Konnor Griffin freshly added to the injured list with a torn finger tendon, but Pittsburgh came in having won 3 of its last 5.

Hurston Waldrep

(0-1)·8.44 ERA

Jul 2 vs Cardinals

ND

5.1IP

3ER

4K

1BB

76P

07/07 Lineup

Paul Skenes

(9-8)·3.43 ERA

Jul 1 @ Phillies

L

4.0IP

7ER

5K

2BB

81P

07/07 Lineup

None of that stopped the market from treating Atlanta like the safer bet to win outright, with Pittsburgh's price shortening as the afternoon wore on.

Atlanta Braves

(52-37)

Jul 6Lvs Mets6-7

Jul 5Lvs Mets9-10

Jul 5Wvs Mets14-3

Jul 3Wvs Mets5-3

Jul 2Lvs Cardinals5-11

Pittsburgh Pirates

(46-45)

Jul 5W@ Nationals11-5

Jul 4W@ Nationals7-1

Jul 3L@ Nationals5-9

Jul 2W@ Phillies6-1

Jul 1L@ Phillies6-10

The Braves rolled into Pittsburgh straight off an ugly split with the Mets — 4 games, 29 runs scored, and still just an even series thanks to a bullpen that blew back-to-back leads, including a ninth-inning meltdown from closer Raisel Iglesias. That's the tension that's defined this Atlanta team lately: the lineup can outscore almost anybody, but nobody in relief has looked trustworthy in a high-leverage spot.

Atlanta Braves

(13)

• PaternityTyler Kinley (RP) — Atlanta placed Kinley on the paternity list Tuesday.07/07
• PaternityEli White (RF) — Atlanta placed White on the paternity leave list Monday.07/06
• 10-Day-ILRonald Acuna Jr. (RF) — Manager Walt Weis said Tuesday that Acuna (hamstring) could begin a rehab assignment next week, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.07/07
• 10-Day-ILHa-Seong Kim (SS) — Atlanta placed Kim on the 10-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to Wednesday, due to right middle finger inflammation.07/04
• 15-Day-ILMartin Perez (SP) — Atlanta placed Perez on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a left forearm contusion.07/06
• 15-Day-ILRobert Suarez (RP) — An MRI on Suarez's right elbow came back negative Friday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.06/27
• 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-ILAJ Smith-Shawver (SP) — Smith-Shawver (elbow) pitched three innings Tuesday during a rehab start with Single-A Augusta, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four batters, Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.07/01
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Schwellenbach (SP) — Schwellenbach (elbow) will likely report to Atlanta's spring training facility in early July and could be a candidate to rejoin the major-league rotation by late August or early September, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.06/29
• 60-Day-ILSpencer Strider (SP) — Atlanta transferred Strider (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Wednesday.06/17
• 60-Day-ILSean Murphy (C) — Murphy had the cast on his left hand removed Tuesday and is now wearing a splint to protect his fractured middle finger, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reprots.06/04
• 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

Pittsburgh Pirates

(7)

• Day-To-DayEndy Rodriguez (C) — Rodriguez (hip) is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game versus Atlanta.07/07
• 10-Day-ILSpencer Horwitz (1B) — Horwitz (hamstring) has begun a running program at the Pirates' spring training complex in Florida, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/07
• 10-Day-ILOneil Cruz (CF) — Cruz (hand) has resumed swinging a bat, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/07
• 10-Day-ILKonnor Griffin (SS) — The Pirates placed Griffin (finger) on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a torn tendon in his left ring finger, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.07/07
• 15-Day-ILWilber Dotel (RP) — Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that Dotel (lat) will make another rehab appearance with a minor-league affiliate Tuesday, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.07/06
• 15-Day-ILEvan Sisk (RP) — Sisk was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday with left elbow inflammation, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.07/04
• 60-Day-ILChris Devenski (RP) — Devenski (illness) was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL on Sunday.06/07

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is trying to win with what's left after losing Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz for extended stretches, leaning on situational depth and a rotation that still runs through Skenes no matter how rough his last 9 starts have been.

By the time this one wrapped, the box score told the real story — Pittsburgh piled on late while Atlanta's pitching depth got exposed again, exactly the kind of night that explains why the Braves are expected to be aggressive before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.