Oakland Athletics at Atlanta Braves preview: Jon Lester vs. Mike Minor
After taking the series with a 4-3 win against the Oakland Athletics yesterday, the Atlanta Braves will go for the sweep at 8:00 p.m. tonight on ESPN. Tonight though, the Atlanta offense has to go up against one of the top arms in the game: Jon Lester.
The Pitching Match-up:
Mike Minor is on the mound against Lester tonight and while his season has been terrible so far, he’s coming off of a strong start against the Dodgers. In that outing, Minor went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs while striking out seven batters and walking just one. On the season, he’s still got a 5.33 ERA but like we’ve said many, many times before his peripherals are much better than that. Tonight, hopefully he can continue to make progress and salvage the last half of this season.
According to fWAR, Lester has been the third best pitcher in the majors this year. His 5.4 mark trails only Felix Hernandez (6.2) and Corey Kluber (5.6). Lester’s numbers are dominant across the board: He’s got a 2.51 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 3.04 xFIP, 9,24 K/9 and 2.02 BB/9. Despite a .307 BABIP, opposing hitters have managed just a .234 average on the lefty.
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The Particulars:
Date: August 17, 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, $)
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The Predictions:
Before we offer our predictions for today, here’s a look at our records to this point:
- Carlos: 9-5
- Brad: 6-8
As much as Brad and I would both like to pick the Braves for the sweep, it’s extremely hard to pick against Lester. Especially when Minor is on the mound against him and has had such a wild season. Still, two of three against the Athletics would be a great weekend and if we’re wrong, even better.
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).