Braves Head to South Beach to Face the Fish Friday
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Braves dropped two of three in Cincinnati this week against the Reds. Atlanta managed to not hit a single home run in the three game series in the launching pad that is Great American Ball Park. Not hitting a home run in a three game series in Cincy is like pitching a shutout in Coors Field. Both are very rare occurrences.
Atlanta looks to let out their frustration by attempting to bombard that monstrosity of a sculpture over the left-centerfield wall when the Braves head to South Beach to take on the Miami Marlins Friday. The Braves (15-19) are losers of five of their last six ball games. The bats went silent on the banks of the Ohio River and the bullpen has been disappointing all season.
Miami (16-19) led by speedster 2B Dee Gordon who is hitting .426 on the year, looks to manufacture a lot of runs against reeling Braves relievers. Gordon already has 54 hits in his first 31 games in Marlins uniform. Dee has a perfect hitting teacher on the Miami bench in Ichiro Suzuki. If and when Gordon gets on base for the Fish, he will make life difficult for Braves pitchers working out of the stretch because Dee can absolutely fly.
Friday night’s starters are Julio Teheran (3-1, 4.74 ERA) for Atlanta and David Phelps (2-0, 2.90 ERA) for Miami. Julio looks to rebound after a dreadful start in Washington last weekend (5 innings pitched, 10 hits, 6 earned runs). Though he is above .500 in the win-loss column for the Braves, that high ERA is particularly worrisome for Atlanta’s ace.
Alex Wood (1-2, 4.28) and Mat Latos (1-3, 4.72 ERA) are Saturday afternoon’s starting pitchers. Wood pitched great in his last start against the Nationals in a no decision. Woody even recorded three hits at the plate in his last start. The Braves lefty has walked two or fewer batters in each of his last five starts. The last time the Braves faced Mat Latos in Miami, Atlanta chased the right-hander after two-thirds of an inning pitched in the second game of the 2015 MLB season.
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In the series finale Sunday afternoon, Shelby Miller (4-1, 1.60 ERA) squares off with the hardworking righty Tom Koehler (2-3, 4.62 ERA). Miller has been the best pitcher on the Braves roster this season. Look for him to continue his excellent start to the 2015 season for the Atlanta Braves.
Kelly Johnson will likely miss this weekend’s three-game set as he strained his obliques in the series finale against the Cincinnati Reds last night. Expect Jonny Gomes to play a lot of leftfield for the Braves in this series. I wouldn’t be surprised if Phil Gosselin gets a start in left this weekend. Maybe Todd Cunningham gets called up from AAA Gwinnett if KJ’s muscle pains continue to bother him.
Atlanta needs to get back on track in this series if the Braves want to keep pace with the Mets and Nationals in the NL East. The Braves are performing better than expected offensively this year, despite struggling at the plate in Cincinnati. It’s really been the pitching staff, especially the bullpen that has cost the Braves ball games so far this season. Let’s hope Atlanta ends their road trip with a series victory over the NL East rival Miami Marlins.