Los Angeles Angels at Atlanta Braves preview: ESPN beckons
By Brad Rowland
With the Atlanta Braves taking the opener on Friday night and the Los Angeles Angels bouncing back with a marathon victory on Saturday, the stage is set for the series finale on Sunday. However, this isn’t a “normal” setting for the two teams, as ESPN has selected the game for its “Sunday Night Baseball” package, and that brings a great deal of additional attention to the festivities. Fortunately for the hometown Braves, the pitching match-up is heavily in their favor.
Mike Minor heads to the hill for Atlanta, and despite the fact that he was wholly ineffective in his last outing, there isn’t a great deal to be worried about here. The 26-year-old Minor allowed 8 earned runs over 4 innings at his personal house of horrors, Coors Field, but even with that hiccup, his peripherals remain solid, and the venue will be significantly more friendly in this particular game. The biggest challenge in the lineup will be navigating the back-to-back mashers in Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, but if Minor can avoid land mines, this could be a productive outing.
Opposing Minor will be Los Angeles left-hander Hector Santiago, and he is coming off of a demotion to the bullpen. On the plus side for Los Angeles, Santiago is currently riding a nearly 9-inning scoreless streak, but as a starter, his luck hasn’t been quite as good, and he is extremely hittable for the right-hand dominant lineup that Fredi Gonzalez usually utilizes. The offense for the Atlanta Braves has been hit and miss in recent days (to put it mildly), and it would quite encouraging to put up some crooked numbers on this stage.
Here is a look at the particulars for Sunday:
Date: June 15, 2014
Start Time: 8:00 pm ET
TV Channel: ESPN
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 (including all of your Atlanta Braves action), and check back after the game for a full recap. Sound off in the comments!