Here’s how the Braves will line up for the third game of this four-game set in San Francisco:
.@MaxFried32 takes the mound tonight vs. the Giants!#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/fDhSS3u9TU
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 22, 2019
Austin Riley makes his second start of the year at third base; Matt Joyce makes his third start of the year in left field, and fourth in an outfield spot overall. This is also the sixth time Brian McCann will start back-to-back games this season. By comparison, Tyler Flowers has started consecutive games six times as well, including one stretch of three in a row early in the season.
It’s worth noting that Donaldson is hitless against Jeff Samardzija for his career, though that comes in a sample of just seven at-bats. While, hopefully, that’s not the reason for his absence from the lineup today, Matt Joyce going 4-for-7 off Shark kind of points in that direction, which... we’ll leave it at that. Most of Atlanta’s hitters have seen Samardzija at least a bit, though no batter has faced him more than a handful of times. Meanwhile, no current member of the Giants’ roster has faced Fried more than once, though Evan Longoria is 1-for-1 with a homer against him.
No Panik day after heroics, vs LHP Max Fried, whom, we’re told, is pretty good. #sfgiants pic.twitter.com/moXtA0VWEV
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 22, 2019