The Atlanta Braves start a 10-game homestand Monday night, as the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town for a four-game series.
Let’s all hope this series goes better than last week’s series in Pittsburgh. In what was supposed to be a “get well” week for the Atlanta Braves, turned sour in the early part of the week as they lost two out of three to the Pirates, a team which had been playing poor baseball prior to the Atlanta series.
Thankfully, the Marlins were on the schedule next for the Atlanta Braves.
But the Braves play the Pirates for the final time in the regular season this week and the first two pitching matchups are identical to the two losses last week, while a pair of promising rookies go in the third game and two veterans in the series finale.
After the Pirates won the final two games of the Braves series, they proceeded to get swept in Milwaukee, so it appears the Braves series was a blip on the radar for the struggling Bucos.
Game 1: Joe Musgrove vs. Kevin Gausman
The clock is ticking on Gausman’s spot in the rotation, as newly-signed Dallas Keuchel figures to be in Atlanta within the next two weeks or maybe less.
The Pirates rocked Kevin Gausman last week, as he allowed seven runs on 12 hits over five innings.
That inflated Gausman’s ERA to 6.15, and his WHIP to nearly 1.5.
Colin Moran and Elias Diaz hit home runs, while Starling Marte went 3-for-3 and Gregory Polanco went 3-for-4.
Pirates’ starter Joe Musgrove, who had allowed 14 earned runs in his previous three starts, gave up no runs through eight innings before surrendering three runs in the ninth.
Ronald Acuna and Dansby Swanson both homered.