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Atlanta Braves Head to Tampa for 2-Game Series With Rays

By Adam Greene

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The Atlanta Braves are fresh off a 3-1 home series against the Miami Marlins and are looking to take some of their recent success down to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. 

The Braves have struggled mightily against the American League this year, evidenced by a sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles at the end of July. But while the Braves will be without Freddie Freeman, they still have some pieces that can certainly put something together down in Florida over the next two days.

–= Related: Atlanta Braves, Shelby Miller Fall to Marlins 4-1 =-

With the recent acquisition of Nick Swisher, the Atlanta Braves now have a few guys that have played a lot of games down at Tropicana Field. The blessing here is that Williams Perez (4-2) will be facing Erasmo Ramirez (8-4). While Ramirez record may seem positive, he’s lost his past 3 outings for the Rays, allowing 11 total runs in 18 innings.

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Two game series are less than ideal. And in this case, it could give the Atlanta Braves a little confidence to get down to Florida and snag two wins before coming back for a short home stand against the Diamondbacks before hitting a long road trip out west.

What could potentially give us the edge going into this series, is having not only Nick Swisher, but Nick Markakis as well. Both of them have had a lot of experience in at Tropicana Field; so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they are able to put up some strong numbers while down in Florida.

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Look for Matt Wisler (5-2) who is coming off an impressive win against the Marlins at home to have a great showing against Jake Odorizzi (6-6). If the Atlanta Braves were going to lose a game in this series, it’ll be the final game on Wednesday. However if the Atlanta Braves can get behind Wisler and put up some numbers, it should give the team just enough to win over a Tampa club that has a losing record at home.

We’ve talked about the impact players in this series, but what we haven’t talked about is who Fredi Gonzalez is going to put in the DH spot. I believe that it will be Adonis Garcia. He is lighting up the ball in his past 6 games and has shown that he has some power. He could give some much-needed power for the Braves while allowing  someone like Pedro Ciriaco the chance to provide superior defense.

I think the Braves split this series, but come away with some confidence after putting up some runs. They’ll need all they can get to catch up to the New York Mets in the NL East.

Who do you think will be in the DH spot for the next few games?

Next: Atlanta Braves: Can Maybin-Bourn Outfield Coexist?

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