On Wednesday evening, the Atlanta Braves appeared to be well on their way to an eighth win over a ten-game period. Then, a late implosion took place and the Braves (somehow) suffered a seven-run defeat in extra innings that doubled as a job-losing blow for Josh Collmenter. Fortunately, Atlanta has very little time to reflect on that mess, as the Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates will finish up a four-game set with a 12:10 pm ET first pitch on Thursday afternoon.
An extremely early getaway day start time makes sense given that the Braves have to travel to San Francisco to begin a weekend series on Friday but it is always strange. Bartolo Colon gets the ball for Atlanta on the heels of two relatively encouraging starts (9.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 K combined) and he will be opposed by veteran right-hander Ivan Nova.
After a lights-out start to the 2017 season, Nova has leveled off in recent days, but he continues to sport a 2.63 ERA in 61.2 innings. There are some signs (3.21 FIP, 3.63 xFIP) of mild regression coming but, in truth, the 30-year-old has been quite good this season and it will be interesting to see what the Braves can do on the offensive side.
Splitting a series, even at home, against this Pirates team would not be a disaster in a vacuum. With that said, the way that the Braves melted down in what appeared to be a third straight win in the series was unfortunate and that could bleed into Thursday.
Stay tuned throughout the day for all the latest in this space, including a game thread that is coming (very) soon.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday May 25, 2017, 12:10 pm ET
Location: SunTrust Park, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: Fox Sports Southeast, MLB Network, MLB.tv (streaming)
Radio: 680 AM, 93.7 FM (Flagship in Atlanta), WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network