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WEDNESDAY FIRST 5 INNINGS PLAY (YTD 2-4)


jimmythegreek
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Pittsburgh/Atlanta over 5.5 even:
It had to end sometime, but for those of you who outlasted last night’s 3+ hour rain delay in Atlanta got to see a thrilling finish. At around 2am after a marathon that lasted nearly 6 hours, the Braves edged the Pirates 6-5 after a seesaw back and forth battle. After Pittsburgh took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 9th, Nick Markakis tied it in the bottom half with an RBI double only to be followed by a game winning walk-off RBI single by Matt Adams. Adams went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored including his 3rd HR of the season. Kurt Suzuki and Ender Inciarte also had 3 hits apiece while Markakis and Brandon Phillips each went 2 for 5. Tony Watson (2-1) took the loss for the Pirates while Luke Jackson retired one batter in the 9th for his first win. Jordy Mercer went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI including his 3rd HR of the season. Tuesday night’s starter Tyler Glasnow went 3 for 3 while Josh Harrison had 3 hits in 5 trips. The Braves (20-23) have won 7 of 9 staying within 6.5 games of the Washington Nationals. The Pirates (20-26) have played better recently but still sit in the NL Central basement trailing Milwaukee by 5.5 games.

Julio Teheran (3-4 5.47) gets the baseball this evening for game 2 of this 3 game series. The 26 year old right-hander traditionally last season put forth mostly solid efforts victimized by run support, but given the change of venue that previous issue should no longer be a problem. 2017 for Teheran has been a roller-coaster ride, and it took a steep downturn in his last start where he yielded 9 ER on 8 hits in just 3 innings of work in a 9-0 home loss to Toronto. He faces a Pittsburgh lineup hitting just .230 with 40 HR as offensive production has been the cornerstone of the Pirates struggles thus far averaging just 3.8 runs per contest. Harrison (.292 6 14) has been the most long-term consistent thus far but receives a breather this evening after 17 straight starts. He’s hit safely in 6 of his last 7 (.310) and is however available to pinch hit if needed. David Freese (.256 4 12) likely will start at 3rd base. Josh Bell (.254 9 20) is tops on the Bucs in production and is hitting .305 over the last week. However, struggles continue for Andrew McCutchen (.200 6 20) who is mired in a 5 for 30 slump (.167) with no signs of breaking out. Mercer (.219 3 14) has hit .300 over the past week and looks to be snapping out of his early doldrums at the plate. Adam Frazier (.356 1 12) has gotten back to the everyday player role in the outfield and though he does not have nearly not enough at-bats to qualify for the league leaders, is hitting .440 over the last week with 7 RBI and 4 multi-hit games.

The Pirates counter with Trevor Williams (2-3 6.04) who is going through a similar inconsistent phase as Teheran surrendering 10 ER over his last 3 starts (6.57). His last outing was against Philadelphia in a 6-3 loss where he allowed 3 ER on 4 hits in 6 IP. The 25 year old right-hander hopes to avoid the sophomore jinx this season facing a Braves lineup hitting .267 overall and scoring about 4.6 runs per contest, a stark contrast to last season’s anemic numbers. However, Atlanta is picking up where they left off in the second half where they were about a .500 team and have some good young prospects combined with veteran leadership, but unfortunately along with some injuries. Freddie Freemnan (.341 14 25) fractured his wrist and will miss at least 2.5 months after getting hit by a pitch that effectively ended his 6 game hitting streak. Matt Kemp (.338 8 26) clubbed a couple of HR’s this week, albeit the solo variety as he could certainly use some protection in the lineup. Phillips (.300 3 14) has hit safely in 6 of his last 7 games (.429) and shows no signs of slowing down even at age 35. Ender Inciarte (.289 5 17) is the speedster of this ball club that thrives nabbing 9 of their team’s 27 stolen bases along with some pop in his bat. Markakis (.296 1 23) has fallen into a mini-slump (.226) but still remains relatively consistent despite not showing production similar to the past.

We get a fairly efficient price this evening at a venue which is reminiscent of Fulton County’s launching pad before the ball never seemed to carry nearly as much at Turner Field. Now that the Braves seem reborn again at Sun Trust Field, it has significantly bolstered their offense despite lacking some solid starting pitching. Both hurlers tonight will try and find a new rhythm and hope to hold it for a nice duration. No need to sound any false alarms this evening, but while it is warm and humid we do expect a chance of more thunderstorms which could slow down the starters in their repertoire. With generous dimensions and two teams that have some clout in their arsenal, let’s hope we can return to the left side and end this mini 3 game slide relative to newfound success. Best of luck however you play!

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