The Cleveland Guardians lost in lopsided fashion yesterday to the Atlanta Braves, 11 to 5. What they have not done on the young season is lose consecutive games. This was the case even in their second series against the LA Dodgers. Parker Messick through two starts and eleven innings of work has given up just one solo shot home run. Take the Guardians to get back in the win column against veteran Martin Perez.

Cleveland has had a lot of success batting against lefties, hitting .306 on the road against them. Martin Perez struggled in his last start, giving up four runs in the loss, while the Braves have lost both of his starts thus far. Perez has also struggled against Cleveland, giving up at least three runs in two of his last three starts against them. With Atlanta’s Parker Messick has been dominant on the mound so far, giving up only one run in his first 11 innings and their bullpen is also performing better than the Braves.

Combined, these teams average 8.8 runs per game in their home/road splits, notably less than the opposite sides. Pitchers have the edge here; Braves LHP Martin Perez was great his first outing and less-great in No. 2, but the Guardians have struggled vs. southpaws and the Atlanta pen has a sub-1 ERA. On the flip side, young LHP Parker Messick appears to be the real deal, allowing one run over 11 IP to the Dodgers and Cubs.