Friday MLB preview, Dodgers at Braves, Indians at Yankees

Los Angeles Dodgers (81-42) at Atlanta Braves (72-51), 7:20 p.m. ET

MLB free pick: Under 10 runs

It isn't easy to produce a .500 record on a team that's 81-42, but Kenta Maeda (8-8, 4.12 ERA) has found a way. The Japanese hurler has repeatedly squandered big leads this season and has been atrocious away from Dodger Stadium, with a 2-5 record and a 5.66 ERA on the road. Maeda's maddening inconsistency will likely earn him a one-way trip to the bullpen when October rolls around.

It's been an entirely different story in Atlanta this season for Mike Soroka (10-2, 2.32 ERA), a 22-year-old wunderkind who has taken baseball by storm. The Calgary native ranks in the MLB's top five in ERA, ERA+, WAR, fielding percentage and FIP, a comprehensive stat that measures a pitcher's effectiveness at preventing home runs, walks and hit batsmen, while producing strikeouts. Soroka is coming off a stellar performance against the Miami Marlins, in which he gave up just three hits over seven innings and struck out six.

Soroka's electric stuff gives the Braves a clear-cut advantage and should result in both a win and a low-scoring game that dips under the the projected run total.

Cleveland Indians (73-49) at New York Yankees (81-42), 7:05 p.m. ET

MLB free pick: Yankees moneyline

We're not going to sugarcoat it. The Yankees 19-5 loss to the Indians on Thursday evening was uglier than the southbound end of a northbound donkey. New York's pitchers gave up 24 hits and seven home runs, including two each to Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez. It was almost as though Cleveland was working through months of pent-up aggression over just nine innings. Don't expect it to happen again.

The Indians have only scored 10 runs or more in back-to-back games once this season, dating back to a pair of wins over the Texas Rangers on June 18-19. The Yankees haven't surrendered 10 runs or more in back-to-back games all year and have only lost consecutive games once since July 27.

Good teams bounce back, and that's precisely what the Yankees will do Friday night, when two-time AL All-Star Masahiro Tanaka (8-6, 4.64) faces rookie Aaron Civale (1-1, 1.00 ERA) in the Bronx.

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