Colorado Rockies at Atlanta Braves preview: Gavin Floyd has the ball in the series opener
After a comeback victory last night against the Milwaukee Brewers to take the four-game series, the Atlanta Braves are set to welcome the Colorado Rockies into Turner Field for a three-game home series.
With a 26-21 record, the Rockies are just a half game behind the Atlanta Braves (for whatever that might count for) and are sitting in second place behind the Giants in the National League West. The Rockies lead the MLB as a team in wRC+ and are hitting .298/.346/.486, but do have the advantage of playing in Coors Field.
The pitching matchup tonight is going to be Jordan Lyles for Colorado and Gavin Floyd for the Braves.
Jordan Lyles: Lyles comes into this game with a 5-1 record, a 3.50 ERA, 4.01 FIP and 3.85 xFIP. He hasn’t done much in the way of strikeouts (he’s posting just 5.83 Ks per nine innings) but he’s doing a decent job of keeping the ball in the park, and he’s also reaping the benefits of a .261 BABIP from opposing hitters–compared to a career mark of .302. In his last game against San Diego, Lyles struggled quite a bit, going just 3.1 innings and allowing six earned runs. He also walked six batters and struck out just three.
Gavin Floyd: Meanwhile, Floyd’s numbers look much better and he’ll be trying to pick up his first win tonight to have something to show for his efforts. Floyd’s K/BB ratio is fantastic so far at 3.40 and he is striking out 8.20 batters per nine while walking just 2.41. These numbers are significantly better than his career marks, so I wouldn’t expect to keep seeing this kind of success as the season moves along. At the moment (with just 18.2 innings pitched) he’s got a 2.41 ERA, 3.06 FIP and 3.28 xFIP.
Here are the particulars for tonight’s series opener:
Date: May 23, 2014
Start Time: 7:35 PM
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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