Atlanta Braves at Houston Astros preview: Aiming for a sweep

The Atlanta Braves are (gasp) riding a sudden hot streak. The team has taken the first two games in Houston on the back of fantastic pitching, and Alex Wood provided the blueprint for Wednesday’s starter, Mike Minor, on how to shut down the Astros. With that, the road team will be aiming for a three-game sweep in an afternoon tilt, and let’s take a glance at what to expect.

Houston will be sending 24-year-old right-hander Jarred Cosart to the hill in the finale, and he has been quite solid this season. In 15 starts, Cosart has produced a 3.78 ERA, which is nothing to write home about, but in his last outing, the right-hander shut down the Tampa Bay Rays over eight shutout innings, and that flashes a bit of his upside. Atlanta could very well be without Freddie Freeman in this match-up also, as the first baseman left Wednesday’s game after being hit by a pitch, and the lineup will have a great deal of slack to pick up if that is the case.

The aforementioned Mike Minor gets the ball for Atlanta, and he pitched extremely well in knocking off the Washington Nationals last week. Minor struck out 11 batters over 7 innings, and despite the fact that it was a no-decision, he lowered his ERA to a much more manageable 4.20 for the season, and with another productive outing, his statistics will begin to match his true talent level.

Here is a look at the particulars for Thursday:

Date: June 26, 2014

Start Time: 2:10 pm ET

TV Channel: SportSouth, MLB Network (National)

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

Live Stream: MLB.tv (Click Here, $)

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