Meet the Mets. Meet the Mets. Step right up and … sweep the Mets?
Think the Bravos have one more in ‘em tonight?
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
📺 How to watch: First pitch at 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports (and MLB Network, for our out-of-market friends).
⚾ The probable starters: Spencer Strider (1-5, 4:35) vs. Clay Holmes (7-3, 2.87).
📝 The scouting report: Tonight brings the 15th start of the year for Holmes, who’s been pretty darn good despite spending most of his career in the bullpen. The only Brave with more than three at-bats against him is Alex Verdugo, who’s 3-for-6.
- Strider finally got his first win of the season last time out, going six scoreless and striking out 13 Rockies.
ATL ON A ROLL
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
In today’s Sports Daily newsletter, I waxed a bit about the Braves’ recent run of success and what it really means.
Columnist Ken Sugiura did more or less the same.
The general consensus is ... who knows. But Atlanta’s finally looking like a ballclub that knows what it’s doing.
“We’re around the corner to getting on fire and winning games every single day,” designated hitter Marcell Ozuna said.
A random sampling of proof:
📈 The Braves have now won three straight series and six of their eight games since that seven-game losing streak.
📈 Over that same span (but not including Wednesday’s game), the Braves were hitting .320 in high-leverage situations.
📈 The bullpen ERA in June now sits at 3.85, which is good enough for sixth in the National League. And Raisel Iglesias has logged four straight scoreless outings.
That’s not to mention Chris Sale’s utter dominance, Ronald Acuña Jr. doing Ronald Acuña Jr. things (more on that momentarily) or offensive improvements from Austin Riley and Matt Olson.
Ozzie Albies even had two extra-base hits last night before getting hit in the knee with a pitch (no official update that I’ve seen).
All of this, of course, is a prime example of creating big-picture prophesies out of small sample sizes. We’ve been here before — and there’s a lot of ground to make up.
But if nothing else, it’s extremely funny they’re beating up on the Mets.
NEW YORK NEGATIVITY
Speaking of that … wanna read some negative things about the Mets? Me too!
New York Daily News headline: “Chris Sale nearly seals complete game shutout as Mets’ starting pitching unravels”
- From the story: “The Mets (45-29) raced to the top of the NL East standings largely because of pitching. Yet it’s been pitching that has largely doomed them over the last five games.”
- Starter Paul Blackburn: “We’ve kind of run into a rut here the last week.”
New York Post headline: “Mets can’t touch Braves ace Chris Sale in feeble performance as losing streak hits five”
- From the story: “The Mets, who fell to 18-19 on the road this season, have lost 25 of their past 35 games against the Braves dating to the 2022 season.”
- Shortstop Francisco Lindor: “We did a good job the first 2 ½ months of playing things through and this is the time of the year we’re going through it.”
You hate to see it.
ACUÑA-METER
Should we just go ahead and create a regular “Ronald Acuña Jr. is absurd” feature? I know I can’t get enough of the guy.
📈 His leadoff homer last night was his eighth round-tripper of the season — in 80 at-bats.
📈 The 15 first-pitch leadoff homers he’s hit in his career are second-most all-time. (Remember Craig Biggio?)
📈 His WAR (wins above replacement) already sits at 1.9. That puts him roughly middle of the pack throughout baseball — in about one-third as many games as everyone else.
Pretty good, eh?
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Credit: Daniel Varnado for the AJC
Grammy-winning R&B star Usher threw out Wednesday’s first pitch. We won’t talk about his bobblehead, which bore only the faintest of resemblances … but what do you think about the upside-down lettering on that jersey?
It’s part of a new collaboration with the Braves and plays on his “Peace up, A-Town down” catchphrase.
I can dig it.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
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