The last time the Braves won a road series against an NL West opponent was April 2013, over three seasons ago (they won a series in Coors against the Rockies). For series wins closer to the Pacific Ocean, you have to go back another year, to April 2012 versus the Dodgers. But, the Braves have a golden opportunity to finally get over this particular hump, coming off the heels of a 3-1 victory last night.
Aaron Blair will be the horse in today’s edition of the pitching merry-go-round for the Braves. His first 11 major league starts have not gone according to plan: he’s allowed 45 earned runs in 50 and two-thirds innings of work, and has walked the same number of batters as he’s struck out. Since late June, Blair has been pitching out of the rotation at AAA-Gwinnett, where he’s posted a much better FIP (3.75). However, his surface stats look gnarly (5.98 ERA), thanks to a .380s BABIP-against and a very low strand rate (65%).
In case you haven’t heard, Madison Bumgarner is having another terrific season, with a 2.44 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and 3.51 xFIP. He’s scuffled a bit in August (ERA, FIP, xFIP in the 4.00s), with three okay or poor starts and just two good ones so far. Still, the Braves are a considerably less tough opponent than other teams, and he shut out the Braves for 7 and two-thirds innings back in Atlanta in June, striking out 11 in the process.
That start actually featured the same pitching matchup as tonight’s game. The Braves lost that game 6-0, and Blair allowed three homers, one of them a two-run shot to Bumgarner himself. Bumgarner has hit 12 dingers in his last three seasons, and 14 in his career. Atlanta pitchers (all of them) have managed just 13 homers going back to 2005, and just 22 since 2000.
Game Info:
Sunday, August 28, 2016, 4:05 pm ET
AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA
TV: Fox Sports South
Radio: WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network, 680 AM / 93.7 FM