After a west coast trip in which the Atlanta Braves went 1-5, they return home to host the Boston Red Sox in a short two game set that begins on Tuesday.
Heading into this series, Atlanta finds themselves in unfamiliar territory, second place in the NL East. Let's take a look at pitching matchups and things to watch for at Truist Park in this mid-week matchup.
Pitching matchups
Game 1 Tuesday May 7th 7:20 p.m. ET:
Kutter Crawford (2-1, 1.56 ERA) vs. Reynaldo Lopez (2-1, 1.50 ERA)
Game 2 Wednesday May 8th 7:20 p.m. ET
Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.82 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (4-1, 3.44 ERA)
3 things to watch for
Ronald Acuna Jr. heating up
One of the biggest struggles this year for the Braves has shockingly been a lack of power and production from an offense that shattered several records a season ago. The ignitor for the Atlanta offense is none other than Ronald Acuna Jr. who has struggled heavily by his standards in 2024.
Although the Braves had a rough go at it as a team in their last road trip, Acuna showed signs of potentially returning to form soon. Since the calendar has flipped to May, Ronald is 7 for 17 and blasted his second homer of the season. Look for him to start living up to his expectations in the coming weeks.
Braves vs. Nick Pivetta in game two
Although the Red Sox do not come to Atlanta often, Pivetta is no stranger to the Braves. Before joining the Red Sox rotation in 2020, the right hander was with one of Atlanta's biggest rivals in the Phillies.
Over the years some players have come and gone, but many that are on Atlanta's current roster are players that have had a multitude of at-bats against Pivetta. In his career, Nick Pivetta is 7-4 against Atlanta with a 5.04 ERA and has allowed 13 home runs in 89 innings. Maybe seeing Pivetta will be what begins Atlanta's power surge we know is coming.
Chris Sale looking for revenge
Chris Sale has been sensational over his last few starts and will look to prove a point against his former squad. Sale has been very clear about his time in Boston and says he wouldn't call it "successful" despite winning a World Series because he did not pitch enough due to injury.
We know that Red Sox fans can be ruthless at times and for Sale to miss so much time while under a massive contract created a recipe for him to become a villain in their eyes. Regardless of what professional stance Sale takes when asked about facing his former club, you know added emotions will be present with the big left-hander on Wednesday. Hopefully that firece, competitive mindset translates to a dominate performance and Braves win.