Braves face the Giants For Second Consecutive Weekend

The Atlanta Braves open up a weekend series in the Bay against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. 

If you live on the East Coast, you may want to get a pot of coffee going to make it through all 9 innings. First pitch is set for 10:15 PM EST.

Spencer Strider will take his 14-4 record and league-leading 227 strikeouts to the mound for the Braves. His last outing took place exactly one week ago today against the same Giants team. 

Strider was sensational, only allowing one hit and striking out 10. He will look to mirror his last start while the Giants will be ready to make adjustments. 

Logan Webb (9-9, 3.36 ERA) will take the ball for the home team. His last start also came at Truist Park last weekend. The Braves tagged him for 4 runs across 6 innings and Atalanta won the game 6-5. 

What to Watch for 

1. Spencer Strider Strikeouts

It may be more difficult to put MLB The Show 23 in your PlayStation 5, start a franchise with the Atlanta Braves, and strike out more batters than Spencer Strider is doing in real life. He has 227 strikeouts in just 146.1 innings pitched. 

We already mentioned that he fanned 10 last time out against the Giants. Something to watch will be if hitters can make adjustments to his electric pitch arsenal or if the same recipe will get the same result. 

2. Marcell Ozuna Hot Streak

What Marcell Ozuna has been able to do to salvage his career has been remarkable. The multiple off-the-field issues to go along with his horrid start to the 2023 season had Braves fans wanting him released. 

Ozuna let the pressure motivate him and he’s the hottest hitter in the Braves lineup at the moment. He is coming off a series where he went 8-11 with 4 home runs. He takes a 3-game home run streak into Friday night. Hopefully, the off day on Thursday wasn’t enough to cool him off.

3. Late Night

Barring any kind of crazy delay, the first pitch of tonight’s game will be at 10:15 PM EST, around the time most Braves games are ending. 

Look, MLB players travel all the time so this obviously isn’t new to them. However, they are still human beings and haven’t been on the West Coast since late May and early June. 

Having Thursday off should help the Braves rest up some but adjusting to a three-hour time difference will always be a challenge. Hopefully, Strider and the Braves offense stays awake long enough to give Atlanta their third straight win.

Pitching Matchup 

ATL: Spencer Strider (14-4, 3.57 ERA)

SF: Logan Webb (9-9, 3.36 ERA)

Game Info 

Date: August 25, 2023

Time: 10:15 PM EST

Location: Oracle Park (San Fransisco, CA)

TV: BSSO/ESPN+

Radio: 680 AM The Fan