The Braves have become some kind of juggernaut in the NL East over the last couple of weeks as they continue to punish their in-division rivals. Yesterday it was the Met’s turn as Atlanta posted six runs en-route to a convincing victory.
Today the teams will do battle again when the Braves send Julio Teheran to the mound and the Mets send out Steven Matz looking to end their skid.
Matz gave up seven runs in his last start to the Philadelphia Phillies and has not looked like a Major League pitcher at all in his last two starts. His season ERA sits at 4.85 and his peripherals are even worse (5.49 FIP). This is a vast departure from the Matz of old as he’s allowing over two home runs per game. So today is a very dangerous spot for him as every batter in the Braves order tends to hit lefties well (outside of Markakis) and every batter in the lineup is able to leave the yard at any given time.
Julio Teheran is having some struggles of his own as well. He too gave up seven runs in his last start against the Cubs. Even worse, he has allowed 13 earned runs over his past eight innings pitched which has taken his ERA from 2.92 to 3.94. Luckily Teheran has traditionally been a nightmare for the Mets to face as in his 26 career starts against New York he owns a 2.62 ERA. The peripherals aren’t encouraging for Teheran as he has an xFIP of 5.20, then again, his peripherals never are encouraging and he tends to always outperform them. He is allowing less than a homer per game this season which was a huge part of his early season success.
The Braves are clicking on all cylinders, looking for their 50th win as they continue to chase down the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the NL. Stay tuned.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, June 29, 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Citi Field - Queens, NY
TV: Fox Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, Rock 100.5, Braves Radio Network
First Pitch: 83 degrees