<img alt="MLB: JUL 29 Braves at Brewers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LzuN5fr5ynygcQ362o_zGcnlK7A=/0x0:3785x2523/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73512316/2164051433.0.jpg">
Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Braves desperately needed to get out of town. Hopefully a change of scenery, opposition and baseball atmosphere can help to revive this team. Following a nightmare of a homestand that saw them get bludgeoned by the Marlins and then completely wiped out by the Brewers, the Atlanta Braves are now looking to figure out a way to get the train back on the tracks and it starts tonight at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.
Two things that have been keeping the Braves afloat this season have been their pitching and defense. Atlanta has been struggling in both of those facets of the game, as they’ve given up a shocking 45 runs during this five-game losing streak and are clearly feeling the effects of having to use Jorge Soler in the outfield (though he was out of the lineup yesterday) in order to put out their best possible lineup in terms of batting.
Speaking of batting, that’s been the only silver lining that the Braves can take away from this streak is that the offense at least put five and seven runs on the board, respectively, in their past two games. If this is just a blip for the pitching but the offense sticks around, then the Braves may come out of this slump feeling better about themselves. With that being said, this is still a nightmarish slump for Atlanta to be in and if you want to cure your pitching woes then they are unfortunately about to visit the absolute last place you want to go for that type of thing.
Grant Holmes, go get ‘em, buddy! All things considered, Holmes has done an admirable job since being essentially thrust into the rotation in recent times. His start in Milwaukee is proof positive that he can indeed get the job done as a starter but it’s safe to say that things could’ve gone better during his outing against the Marlins in his last start. With that being said, it is going to be very fascinating to see how/if he can adjust to the unique environment that is Coors Field. While Colorado’s offense is one of the very worst in all of baseball (even when you consider just their home splits, the Rockies are hitting .266/.331/.433 with .167 Isolated Power and 82 wRC+), anything can and will happen in this ballpark and hopefully Holmes will be able to keep them quiet while he’s out there.
While the Rockies aren’t the best team hitting at home, the Braves are certainly not the best team hitting on the road, themselves. Atlanta will be heading into this game hitting .226/.291/.393 with .166 Isolated Power and 90 wRC+ on the road this season. That wRC+ mark is good for 21st place in the bigs in terms of hitting on the road and is definitely a serious downturn when compared to their somewhat respectable team wRC+ of 103 at home. It’s not great, Bob!
With that being said, they’ve got an opportunity to get out of the doldrums here. Atlanta did put up nine, five and six runs, respectively, over the course of three of their most recent four road games (remember when they won the series in Milwaukee?! That feels like ages ago!) so the offense has shown some signs of life on the road recently. The Braves will be dealing with Tanner Gordon as Colorado’s starter as well, and the obvious hope here is that Atlanta will be able to extend his misery and make his line look like what his first three career starts looked like. In those starts, he gave up 25 hits and 15 runs over 15 innings. That’s pretty bad!
With that being said, he did go out six days ago in San Diego and proceed to throw six innings where he only gave up one hit, one walk and one run in a game that the Rockies somehow managed to lose. In fact, the Rockies are currently 0-4 in games that Gordon has started so far and that includes one home start where he gave up five runs over 6.1 innings against the Royals in his debut. So while Gordon is clearly vulnerable, he does have a serious sinker that can get him some outs and he’s also shown that he can get the job done and keep the Rockies in a game.
If we’re all being honest here, the Braves are absolutely desperate for a victory. They’re facing the worst team in the National League by a good margin and they’re facing a relatively inexperienced pitcher. With that being said, Atlanta’s offense has largely been inconsistent and their starting pitcher is also relatively inexperienced, himself. Either way, if the Braves want to remain in the Postseason race and keep this slump from competely torpedoing this season then they absolutely have to put games like this in the ‘Win’ column. We’ll see if they can make it happen.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 9, 8:40 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA.
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
<img alt="MLB: JUL 29 Braves at Brewers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LzuN5fr5ynygcQ362o_zGcnlK7A=/0x0:3785x2523/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73512316/2164051433.0.jpg">
Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Braves desperately needed to get out of town. Hopefully a change of scenery, opposition and baseball atmosphere can help to revive this team. Following a nightmare of a homestand that saw them get bludgeoned by the Marlins and then completely wiped out by the Brewers, the Atlanta Braves are now looking to figure out a way to get the train back on the tracks and it starts tonight at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.
Two things that have been keeping the Braves afloat this season have been their pitching and defense. Atlanta has been struggling in both of those facets of the game, as they’ve given up a shocking 45 runs during this five-game losing streak and are clearly feeling the effects of having to use Jorge Soler in the outfield (though he was out of the lineup yesterday) in order to put out their best possible lineup in terms of batting.
Speaking of batting, that’s been the only silver lining that the Braves can take away from this streak is that the offense at least put five and seven runs on the board, respectively, in their past two games. If this is just a blip for the pitching but the offense sticks around, then the Braves may come out of this slump feeling better about themselves. With that being said, this is still a nightmarish slump for Atlanta to be in and if you want to cure your pitching woes then they are unfortunately about to visit the absolute last place you want to go for that type of thing.
Grant Holmes, go get ‘em, buddy! All things considered, Holmes has done an admirable job since being essentially thrust into the rotation in recent times. His start in Milwaukee is proof positive that he can indeed get the job done as a starter but it’s safe to say that things could’ve gone better during his outing against the Marlins in his last start. With that being said, it is going to be very fascinating to see how/if he can adjust to the unique environment that is Coors Field. While Colorado’s offense is one of the very worst in all of baseball (even when you consider just their home splits, the Rockies are hitting .266/.331/.433 with .167 Isolated Power and 82 wRC+), anything can and will happen in this ballpark and hopefully Holmes will be able to keep them quiet while he’s out there.
While the Rockies aren’t the best team hitting at home, the Braves are certainly not the best team hitting on the road, themselves. Atlanta will be heading into this game hitting .226/.291/.393 with .166 Isolated Power and 90 wRC+ on the road this season. That wRC+ mark is good for 21st place in the bigs in terms of hitting on the road and is definitely a serious downturn when compared to their somewhat respectable team wRC+ of 103 at home. It’s not great, Bob!
With that being said, they’ve got an opportunity to get out of the doldrums here. Atlanta did put up nine, five and six runs, respectively, over the course of three of their most recent four road games (remember when they won the series in Milwaukee?! That feels like ages ago!) so the offense has shown some signs of life on the road recently. The Braves will be dealing with Tanner Gordon as Colorado’s starter as well, and the obvious hope here is that Atlanta will be able to extend his misery and make his line look like what his first three career starts looked like. In those starts, he gave up 25 hits and 15 runs over 15 innings. That’s pretty bad!
With that being said, he did go out six days ago in San Diego and proceed to throw six innings where he only gave up one hit, one walk and one run in a game that the Rockies somehow managed to lose. In fact, the Rockies are currently 0-4 in games that Gordon has started so far and that includes one home start where he gave up five runs over 6.1 innings against the Royals in his debut. So while Gordon is clearly vulnerable, he does have a serious sinker that can get him some outs and he’s also shown that he can get the job done and keep the Rockies in a game.
If we’re all being honest here, the Braves are absolutely desperate for a victory. They’re facing the worst team in the National League by a good margin and they’re facing a relatively inexperienced pitcher. With that being said, Atlanta’s offense has largely been inconsistent and their starting pitcher is also relatively inexperienced, himself. Either way, if the Braves want to remain in the Postseason race and keep this slump from competely torpedoing this season then they absolutely have to put games like this in the ‘Win’ column. We’ll see if they can make it happen.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 9, 8:40 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA.
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
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