The Atlanta Braves have a sparkling opportunity to wreak havoc on the National League East race this weekend in Philadelphia, beginning with Thursday’s game against the first-place Phillies.
Philadelphia enters the four-game series with a five-game lead in the division. The Braves chipped away by winning two of three against the Phillies in Atlanta last week, and they followed up that series by going 5-1 against the Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins.
Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Wednesday with a 5-1 victory. Chris Sale became the first NL pitcher to reach 15 victories this season, while Jorge Soler hit a home run to propel the Braves’ offense.
“It’s a good time to have a happy flight,” Sale said of the trip to Philadelphia, where the hosts will be licking their wounds from their most recent contest.
The Phillies took a pounding on Wednesday, absorbing a 10-0 loss to the Houston Astros. Philadelphia failed to get a hit in the first seven innings and finished with just three singles on the day.
They’ll look to bounce back behind Cristopher Sanchez (9-9, 3.51 ERA), who took the loss against the Braves last Thursday. The Dominican lefty pitched respectably in that contest, yielding three runs in six innings while striking out eight.
“It’s impressive how far (Sanchez) has come,” manager Rob Thomson said earlier this month. “He’d be a No. 1 on a lot of teams.”
Sanchez has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his last eight starts overall, but he has never defeated the Braves in his career. In four lifetime games (three starts) against Atlanta, Sanchez is 0-3 with a 4.66 ERA.
Marcell Ozuna is 3-for-7 with a double against Sanchez, while Michael Harris II and Orlando Arcia are a combined 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts against him.
Harris and Arcia also enter this one in a bit of a cold stretch after the two combined to go 1-for-8 with six strikeouts on Wednesday. Harris is just 6-for-32 in his last nine games, while Arcia has gone 15 straight contests without a multi-hit effort.
Atlanta will turn to Charlie Morton (7-7, 4.24), who has generally been excellent this month. The 40-year-old right-hander endured one ugly outing against the Milwaukee Brewers, but otherwise he is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four August starts.
Morton, who pitched briefly for the Phillies in 2016, has not faced his former team this year. He is 5-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 19 career starts against Philadelphia.
Bryce Harper (.423) and Alec Bohm (.444) have good career numbers against Morton, while Trea Turner (3-for-17) and Nick Castellanos (1-for-17) find themselves on the other end of the spectrum.
Atlanta has won six of the nine meetings between the teams this season. The Braves have won the NL East in each of the last six seasons, although the Phillies upset them in the playoffs in each of the last two years.
“(These games are) important, obviously,” Thomson said. “I don’t know how much more important (than other games), but I always say that you’ve got to win at home and you’ve got to win in your division. … So, it’s a big series.”
–Field Level Media