The Braves are coming off a 6-4 road trip and come home to face the Marlins, who are fighting to stay relevant in the playoff hunt.
Barring an epic collapse, the Marlins have no chance at winning the division (10 GB) but are 5.5 games out of the Wild Card. They didn't help their chances any in their last series, losing two of three in Anaheim and are 12-12 in August, but have held their own against the Braves this year. They've won seven of the 13 games between them including three of four in Atlanta in the second series following the All-Star Break.
The Braves will send Santana, Harang, and Wood against Giancarlo Stanton, the NL's leading home run and RBI producer. Stanton's finally having a healthy season after suffering through the last two with injury. He's already set a new career high in RBI and is just four homers away from his high of 37 set in 2012. Stanton is hitting .302 in August with eight of Miami's 19 homers, but is hitting just .220 against the Braves in 2014.
Much of Stanton's run production has been because Christian Yelich has been getting on base in front of him. Yelich is hitting .351 in August with 16 runs scored. The guys behind Stanton, however, haven't done much of anything. Casey McGehee has all of three RBI in 23 games and Garrett Jones has four RBI and is hitting .194. Jarrod Saltalamacchia brings an eight-game hitting streak into the series during which he's hitting .367 with seven RBI.
Braves hitters will see Jarred Cosart for a second time this year after facing him in Houston. The Marlins picked up Cosart at the trade deadline in hopes for a potential playoff run and so far has held up his end, allowing just two runs in his last three starts covering 20.2 innings.
Outside of Cosart, Miami's pitching hasn't been right. The other two Marlins starters in this series, Koehler and Eovaldi, have allowed 25 runs in 53.1 innings in August. Closer Steve Cishek has given up six runs in nine innings of work this month, but he's never given up a single run in 15 games at Turner Field.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, August 29, 7:35 p.m. ET
Ervin Santana (ATL)
Last 3 starts: 18.1 IP, 21 hits, 6 ER, 5 BB, 20 K
2014 vs. Marlins: 19.1 IP, 18 hits, 7 ER, 8 BB, 19 K
Tom Koehler (MIA)
Last 3 starts: 18 IP, 22 hits, 8 ER, 4 BB, 16 K
2014 vs. Braves: 20 IP, 17 hits, 6 ER, 8 BB, 20 K
Saturday, August 30, 7:10 p.m. ET
Aaron Harang (ATL)
Last 3 starts: 18 IP, 24 hits, 12 ER, 5 BB, 12 K
2014 vs. Marlins: 24.1 IP, 28 hits, 14 ER, 8 BB, 22 K
Jarred Cosart (MIA)
Last 3 starts: 20.2 IP, 16 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
2014 vs. Braves: 7 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Sunday, August 31, 5:10 p.m. ET
Alex Wood (ATL)
Last 3 starts: 20 IP, 13 hits, 7 ER, 5 BB, 11 K
2014 vs. Marlins: 14.1 IP, 14 hits, 8 ER, 1 BB, 14 K
Nathan Eovaldi (MIA)
Last 3 starts: 14.1 IP, 27 hits, 12 ER, 3 BB, 12 K
2014 vs. Braves: 28 IP, 20 hits, 8 ER, 4 BB, 18 K