Braves Take On Mets In The Big Apple

After splitting their four game series with the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves head to the Big Apple to take on their arch rival New York Mets. Atlanta and New York sit only 2.5 games apart in this tight National League East. The first place Mets have a great bullpen (1.9 WAA) that is 2nd in NL behind only St. Louis. It should only get better now that closer Bobby Parnell is back from the disabled list. Seemingly everybody Braves starting position player is hitting over .260 roughly a third of the way through the 2015 season. There are plenty of great pitching matchups between this bitter rivals in this weekend’s three game set.

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Tonight’s starters are Alex Wood (4-3, 3.36 ERA) for the Braves and the ageless Bartolo Colon (8-4, 4.52 ERA) for the Mets. Wood looks to bounce back from a tough last outing in which he got tossed by the home plate umpire midway through the fifth. I imagine Alex will try to redeem himself in tonight’s outing going at least seven innings and give his bullpen a much-needed day of rest. Colon continues to win games as a 42-year old front of the rotation starter for New York. In his last three games, Colon is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA and 15 K’s. Colon always seems to give the Braves trouble. I expect tonight’s game to go down to the wire in a pitcher’s duel. Don’t fail us now, bullpen.

Tomorrow afternoon’s game has the makings of another pitcher’s duel. Shelby Miller (5-2, 1.84 ERA) takes on reigning NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom (7-4, 2.42 ERA). Miller had a great last start versus the Padres but the bullpen squandered his lead and he ended up with a no decision. Shelby hasn’t won a game for the Braves since his near no-hit bid against the Marlins down in South Beach on May 17th. Get this guy some run support. deGrom has gone at least seven innings in each of his last four starts, with a 3-0 record to show for it. This guy is a fantastic pitcher for Manager Terry Collins. I love watching him pitch even though he plays for the Mets.

In Sunday afternoon’s finale, the Braves send Mike Foltynewicz (3-2, 4.72 ERA) to the mound versus fellow top prospect Noah Syndergaard (2-4, 4.15 ERA). Like Folty, I’ve heard Syndergaard’s name for a while now in the Minor Leagues. Both have been on top prospects lists for what seems like forever. Could this be the first of many head-to-head matchups between these two young right handers? I know Folty has been inconsistent for the Braves so far, but this game’s starters has me pumped.

With just a 2.5 game separation between first place New York and third place Atlanta, I imagine the stakes will be high between these NL East foes. Both teams get tremendous satisfaction out of beating the other. I expect a close but exciting series with it being decided Sunday afternoon. Atlanta has a great opportunity to gain some ground in the divisional race when the Braves head to Queens this weekend.

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