Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/29/26

Saturday’s game between the Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves was a tremendous matchup. Pitching controlled the game early on with the 1st run coming in the 7th inning. The game was tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the 9th before Atlanta loaded the bases and Dom Smith hit a grand slam in his first game with the club. It is hard to execute sweeps at the Major League level, but I look for Atlanta to close out this series with another win Sunday afternoon.

Grant Holmes is the scheduled starter for Atlanta in their 3rd game of the season. Holmes was a 1st round pick back in 2014 but didn’t make his mark in the majors until 2024. He made 26 total appearances and 7 starts as a rookie, totaling 68.1 innings with a 3.56 ERA. In 2025, he converted to a full-time starter, opening 21 of his 22 appearances. Those 22 games resulted in a 3.99 ERA across 115 innings of work. Atlanta already has injuries to their pitching staff, and Holmes has a chance to step into a very nice role this season for the Braves if he can limit walks. He allowed 9 free passes in 17.2 spring training innings, but 20 strikeouts helped limit the damage to just 2 earned runs allowed.

Seth Lugo did not find as much success this spring, posting iffy results in both Spring Training and in the World Baseball Classic. Lugo also posted a 7.51 ERA across his final 44.1 innings last season following the All-Star break. At age 36, Lugo doesn’t have the greatest projections heading into the 2026 campaign, and a matchup against a solid Braves lineup could result in a poor start to his season. Given current pricing I side with the Braves to finish off the sweep of Kansas City.

Royals vs Braves prediction: Atlanta Braves ML (-150) available at time of publishing. Playable to -150 odds.