The Atlanta Braves just wrapped up an exciting series with the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend. There was a lot of action between two division-leading teams with offenses on hot streaks.
Atlanta will face another division-leading team as the Minnesota Twins come to Truist Park starting on Monday night. The Twins are currently 40-39 and lead the AL Central by two games.
Minnesota's offense isn't as good as Atlanta's offense even though they have the 7th most home runs in all of baseball at 107. Their team batting average currently sits at .232 and is 24th in the league. The Twins really like to swing at the first pitch as they have a .376 average on the first pitch in their at-bats. So, Atlanta's pitching staff will want to be wary of that statistic.
The Twins are pretty great on the pitching side, however. They are the third-best ERA in all of baseball with a 3.67 ERA and an 11.3 WAR which is the best in baseball. Minnesota is also pretty good at leaving runners on base as their left-on-base percentage is 73.7%.
However, they will be facing a Braves offense that has been on fire. On their most recent road trip, the Braves scored 33 runs on 55 hits and 13 of those hits were homers. That is good enough for a .290 average and a .920 OPS over those 5 games.
Starters for Braves vs. Twins Game One
Spencer Strider will take the mound in game one seeking his ninth win of the season. Strider's ERA currently sits at 3.93 through 84.2 innings pitched with 136 strikeouts, which leads all of MLB.
His last start was against the Phillies and he tossed 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 8 hits with no walks and 9 strikeouts. Strider had been struggling in recent starts so it was encouraging to see him bounce back and throw a great start and most importantly, not issue any walks. Let's hope that start carries over into this one.
The Braves will have to deal with Sonny Gray who will be pitching for the Twins on Monday. His 2.56 ERA is the fifth-best ERA in all of baseball. He has finally started to look more like his old self in the last two seasons.
Gray faced the Red Sox in his last start and pitched 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He will be tasked with facing a very good Braves offense that is absolutely unrelenting.
This will be a very exciting pitching matchup to watch and you definitely won't want to miss out on it.
Where to watch Braves vs. Twins
Where and when: Truist Park in Atlanta, GA at 7:20 PM EST
Watch: Bally Sports South and MLB Network
Listen: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM