Here we go, it’s the Major League Baseball 2021 World Series Final, with the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros going head-to-head for the coveted title.
The first match gets started tonight, and it promises to be an exciting match-up between two of the fancied teams from the start of the season.
Bizarrely, if you revisited the Moneyline at the back end of July, you would have got good odds on the Braves making it this far, such was their form at the time.
That’s all in the past now, and when they square off against the Astros later, they will go in as underdogs, but the fact that they are here at all is an achievement in itself.
The best sports betting sites favor the Houston Astros to win the world series. Bovada make them their -150 favorites.
The Astros did open up at -130 but have been backed into the shorter odds by punters keen to side with them.
Outsiders, the Atlanta Braves are +120 to pull off a shock victory.
For the opening match of the world series final, we are off to Houston. The first two matches of the seven-match ‘Fall Classic’ are being held here.
The match starts at 8pm Eastern, and is followed by the second match 24 hours later.
The full schedule is as follows..
Now let’s take a look at the MLB betting for the opening match.
The Astros have the advantage with the first two matches being at Minute Maid Park. They have to win one of these home-field advantage matches at the very least, with the following three taking place in Atlanta.
On the Moneyline, Houston is the favorite. But on the handicap, the 1.5 spread in favor of the Brave sees the visitors as favorites.
In the total runs spread, 8.5 is the call.
The Houston Astros’ ALC series matches beat the spread in five of their six matches. While in the NLC series, the Brave’s matches had or bettered 9 runs on four out of six occasions.
But I believe it’s a tough spread to call on the opening match when the heat is on, and on this occasion, might be worth leaving alone.
The Astros reached the World Series Finals by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-2 in the ALC series.
This puts Houston in their third World Series Finals in five years.
They were 2-1 down early on in this match-up, but three wins on the spin seen them overpower the Red Sox and make the final.
The three wins were emphatic, 9-2, 9-1 (both away), and 5-0 at home.
Yordan Alvarez was the main reason for the turnaround, and his form along the way seen him pick up the ALCS most valuable player trophy.
The Atlanta Braves defeated Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 in the best-of-seven National League Championship series.
The win sees them in the World Series Finals for the first time since 1999.
The series win was confirmed last weekend with Eddie Rosario the star of the show.
His three-run homer in the fourth inning of the match was enough to seal the win and confirm the 4-2 series victory for the Brave.
In doing so, the Brave ended the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dream of winning back-to-back world series titles.
The Dodgers had inflicted a huge defeat on the Braves in Match 5, winning 11-2 at the Dodger Stadium.
Another win for the Dodgers in Match 6 would have seen them go into the showdown match with all the momentum, making Rosario’s intervention all the more impressive.
Personally, I think the Astros are the stronger of the two sides. They are the favorites with all the best online sportsbooks, and I can one hundred percent see why.
I believe they will win the MLB World Series outright, and that also they will put down a marker and win the opening match-up.
The Astros’ hitters just look too strong. They have a top 7 of Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel, and Kyle Tucker.
In the season’s batting average runs, this group of hitters helped Houston to a .267 team batting average, far superior to Atlanta’s .244 average.
I’m fully behind Houston in the MLB world series, so they are my pick to win the opening match.
I’m happy to back the Astros to win on the Moneyline. But at odds of +140 on the handicap, I’m prepared to take the riskier bet for the better reward.
About the Author
Dean is primarily a fan of English football who regularly attends games, and combining his hobby with his job, he is now a full-time sports betting writer. Rather than going down the educational route into sports journalism, Dean learned his trade by writing for his English football betting website since 2009, where he now boasts nearly 15 years of experience. After writing about football daily for years, Dean has taken the skills he learned and now uses them to great effect writing for numerous affiliate sites across the internet. A general all-around sports enthusiast with a passion for English football and cricket, Dean is also well able to turn his hand to writing about golf, tennis, F1, boxing, snooker, darts, and North American sports. Combining his extensive knowledge and experience with British humor and wit, Dean has developed into a trusted voice within the sports betting industry.
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