The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros have met five times previously in the MLB postseason, but those were all when Houston was still a National League club. They square off in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night with Caesars Sportsbook favoring the AL champions to win the series in six games and listing a trio of favorites for World Series MVP at +900: Houston's Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve and Atlanta's Freddie Freeman.
Some believe the National League teams have an advantage in the World Series because they benefit by adding the designated hitter in the American League park and are used to not having the DH at home. NL teams have won seven of the past 11 World Series. Houston is -150 on the series line with Atlanta at +130. On the exact series result, Astros in six is the +350 favorite. The long shot is a Braves sweep at +1600.
The teams didn't meet in interleague play this season – Atlanta was an ugly 6-14 vs. the American League and Houston was 9-11 vs. the National League.
As for World Series MVP, Alvarez was the ALCS MVP vs. Boston as he hit and ALCS-record .522 with a homer, six RBIs and seven runs scored. Alvarez had nine hits in his final 13 at-bats and is batting .441 overall with two homers and nine RBIs in these playoffs. He will serve as the DH per usual at home, but Dusty Baker will have to put him in left field in Atlanta.
Altuve, the former AL regular-season MVP, has been one of the great playoff performers of all time with 21 homers, 47 RBIs and a .923 OPS in 73 games. The 21 dingers are third-most in MLB postseason history. Manny Ramirez had 29 in 111 games and Bernie Williams 22 in 121.
Could these be the final few games in a Braves uniform for Freeman? The 2020 NL regular-season MVP is a free agent after the Fall Classic but no one expects him to sign elsewhere. Freeman is hitting .294 this postseason with three homers and six RBIs. He was ice cold the first two games of the NLCS, going 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts, but then got hot against the Dodgers.
The Astros are -130 favorites for Game 1 behind lefty Framber Valdez as he faces off against Atlanta's Charlie Morton, a former Astro. This is the 117th World Series. The winner of Game 1 has taken the Fall Classic 63 percent of the time (73), including 20 of the past 23. When Houston won its first and only title in 2017, it lost Game 1 at the Dodgers.
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