Atlanta Braves at New York Mets preview: Alex Wood vs. Dillon Gee

After a strong start to the weekend series with the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves fell flat on Saturday and Sunday, with back-to-back excruciating losses. However, the team has a new lease on life after an off day, and the New York Mets are set to host a three-game set that begins on Tuesday evening at Citi Field. Let’s take a look at the match-up in the series opener.

The Pitching Match-up:

Fredi Gonzalez will be deploying left-hander Alex Wood on Tuesday night, and in the recent past, the former UGA standout has been tremendous. The 23-year-old Wood has allowed two runs or fewer in five consecutive starts, and with that dominance, he has lowered his ERA to a sparkling 3.05 for the season. Frankly, there is no one in the Atlanta rotation that brings more confidence to the fan base right now, and it is nice to see Wood on the bump in an important game.

On the opposite side, Dillon Gee takes the ball for the Mets. The 28-year-old right-hander has been banged up at times this season, but as a whole, he has been reasonably effective with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in 16 starts, after a very productive year in 2013 when he nearly reached 200 innings with a 3.62 ERA. However, Gee has been banged around recently with back-to-back outings where he allowed four earned runs, and the Braves can certainly tee off on him if all goes well.

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The Particulars:

Date: August 26, 2014

Start Time: 7:10 pm ET

TV Channel: SportSouth

Radio: 680 AM/106.7 FM (Local in Atlanta), Full list of Local Affiliates

Live Stream: MLB.tv (Click Here, $)

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The Predictions:

Before we offer our predictions for today, here’s a look at our records to this point:

• Carlos: 13-7
• Brad: 9-11

Carlos maintains a four-game lead in the race, and once again, we are in alignment in backing Alex Wood in this match-up. Dillon Gee can be dangerous when he’s on, but Wood has flashed elite ability since being reinserted as a starter, and he is hard to pick against at this stage.

Please feel free to sound off in the comments with your predictions for the game and feel free to rub it in our faces when you beat us on twitter (@ATLBeatBlog).