Editor's note: only the marquee game carries a line today. Those come from the sportsbook, not from us. The rest of the slate is listed without picks until the Uristocrat Watch picks model ships. Every game below links to its tile on watch.uristocrat.com.
Friday gives you the best pitching matchup of the weekend before dinner. The Brewers own the best record in baseball and they hand the ball to a 24-year-old with a 1.75 ERA, against a Braves team sending out Chris Sale. First pitch is 4:10 p.m. ET, which means the marquee is over before the WNBA doubleheader tips and before NFL preseason fills the rest of the night.
Marquee: Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers, best record in baseball hosts a Cy Young arm (4:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Milwaukee is 79-49 and has been the steadiest team in the National League all summer. Jacob Misiorowski takes the mound at 12-5 with a 1.75 ERA, 210 strikeouts and a 0.75 WHIP, which is the kind of line that turns a rookie-contract arm into a Cy Young conversation. Atlanta counters with Sale at 12-8, 2.16, 160 strikeouts. The Braves are 75-53 and still in the chase, so this is not a spoiler series. Two aces and a total of 6 tells you the market expects a short, tight game. The three-game set ends Sunday in Williamsport, where these same two clubs play the Little League Classic at Journey Bank Ballpark, so the weekend has a finish line worth staying for.
Vegas line: Brewers -134, Braves +124, run line MIL -1.5, total 6. Odds from DraftKings via ESPN, checked the morning of August 21.
Also tonight
- Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees (7:05 p.m. ET, YES). The Yankees are 72-55 and holding a playoff spot. Toronto is 63-66 and running out of road. Yankee Stadium in late August with a division rival is still the loudest room on the slate.
- Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles (7:15 p.m. ET, Apple TV). Tampa is 76-51, second-best record in the American League, and nobody outside the AL East is talking about them. Baltimore at 61-67 is playing out the season. Free on Apple TV if you want to see what the Rays actually look like.
- St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies (6:40 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia). Philadelphia is 70-58 and needs every game. St. Louis at 66-63 is the exact kind of team that ruins a contender's weekend.
- Minnesota Lynx at Washington Mystics (7:30 p.m. ET, ION). Minnesota is 30-7. Washington is 21-14 and has quietly played itself into the playoff picture. The best team in the league on national television is the WNBA game to take.
- Golden State Valkyries at Chicago Sky (7:30 p.m. ET, ION). The Valkyries are 25-10 in their second season, which is not how expansion teams are supposed to go. Chicago is 14-22 and playing for next year.
- New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (7:00 p.m. ET, NFL Network). Preseason, so watch the second quarter and then leave. The roster-bubble reps are the only real thing happening here.
- Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos (9:00 p.m. ET, NFL Network). Mile High in August is a nice picture and not much else. Useful if you have a fantasy draft next week and want to see who is actually getting work.
The thread today is teams with the best records getting the least attention. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay have the two loudest win totals in baseball and neither one is the story anybody is telling. Friday afternoon is the cheapest chance to fix that.
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