Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Alex Wood (40) pitches in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Pitcher’s duels are becoming common place for the 2014 Atlanta Braves, but aftera wild game that ended on a Evan Gattis walk-off home run on Monday night, the Braves and Miami Marlins have one of the best pitching match-ups of the season from on an “on paper” standpoint.
The visiting Marlins will send one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball,Jose Fernandez, to the mound on Tuesday, and that is reason for worry if you are a Braves fan. The 21-year-old (!) enters with a career 2.25 ERA over 196.1 innings, and in addition to that, Fernandez is prone to strikeouts, as the youngster has racked up a K-rate of 10.08 per 9 innings in that same time frame. In addition to that, Fernandez’s numbers just as terrifying in 2 starts against the Braves, as he has put up a 2.08 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 13 innings. This Atlanta lineup is certainly capable of banging him around a bit, but if Fernandez gets in a groove, it could be a long evening.
Fortunately,Fredi Gonzalezand company will send one of their best to the mound inAlex Wood. The young left-hander has posted a sparkling 1.67 ERA over 27 innings (4 starts) this season, and Wood has not exceeded 2 earned runs allowed in any of his outings. Facing off with the somewhat anemic Marlins lineup could also be huge for Wood, and he has the pure “stuff” to match Fernandez, even if the pedigrees don’t exactly line up with Fernandez being mentioned as a legitimateCy Youngthreat.
Here is a look at the particulars for Tuesday:
Date:April 22, 2014
Start Time:7:10 p.m.
TV Channel:Fox Sports South
Radio:680 AM/106.7 FM (Local in Atlanta),Full list of Local Affiliates
Live Stream:MLB.tv (Click Here, $)
Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more information (includingallof your Atlanta Braves action), and check back after the game for a full recap. Sound off in the comments!
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