It’s the Fourth of July, so what’s a better way to celebrate the quintessential American holiday than watching a baseball game? Better yet, the Braves will be playing tonight and they’ll be hosting the Phillies in the final game of a three-game series. Atlanta picked up the win last night, so tonight’s game will be the rubber match as the Braves look to keep their stranglehold on the NL East lead.

During the month of June, Mike Soroka pitched against every one of the Braves’ opponents in the NL East — except for the Phillies. In fact, this will be the first time that Soroka will be facing Philadelphia in his career. With the way that Soroka has been pitching (to the point that he’s earned himself a spot on the NL All-Star team), it’s hard to say that the Phillies are catching him at a “good” time. However, Soroka has slowed down a bit after spending most of April and May terrorizing his competition.

While Mike Soroka is currently sitting on a 2.13 ERA and a 3.16 FIP, his four most recent starts have been a bit below the level that we’ve come to expect from him. Over his past four starts, his ERA is 4.66 and his FIP is 4.50, and one of those starts was the stint where he had to leave early against the Nationals. With that being said, he has been improving since he gave up five runs over five innings against the Pirates last month. He dropped it down to three runs over six innings against the Mets, and then he only gave up two runs and made it into the seventh inning in his “rematch” against the Nationals during his last outing. So if we’re going by that logic, this could be the moment when Mike Soroka can return to form and go to Cleveland with the wind in his sails.

It would also be big for the Braves since, you know, it’s the Phillies. They may have been beaten comprehensively last night, but it would probably give them some hope if they could find a way to leave Cobb County with a series victory. They’ll have to find a way to keep Atlanta’s bats quiet for a second night if that’s going to happen, and Zach Eflin is going to be tasked with trying to slow down the Braves.

If this was 2017, I’d probably be terrified. For starters, the Braves were bad back then and Eflin also took full advantage of that by continuously holding Atlanta’s offense at bay while the Philies won both games that he started against them. Additionally, Eflin actually has a complete game shutout under his belt against the Braves. This came in 2016, which may as well have been 30 years ago with the way how both teams have changed since that period.

The main thing here is to say that Eflin should not be overlooked. He’s been solid this season, even though he’s had a couple of stinkers. One of those stinkers actually came not too long ago, as the Mets tagged him for six runs over 11 hits — three of those being homers. While I wouldn’t expect the Braves to mimic that particular performance, you know that it’s possible. The Braves as a team currently have the second-best wRC+ in the National League (104) and they have the third best Isolated Power number (.197) as well. We’ve routinely seen this Braves team put up crooked numbers at any given point, and the possibility is a distinct one when you’re facing a hitter who gives up homers and puts the ball in the air slightly more than average.

A game like this is basically what you want from your team at this point in the season. The Braves are playing a meaningful game at night on a holiday on a team that figures to be nipping at their heels for the divisional lead all season. Additionally, an All-Star pitcher will be taking the mound for the Braves as well. It’s all that you could ask for when it comes to a big day like this. All we need is some baseball-related fireworks from the home team and this could shape up to be a great night.

Game Info

Time/Date: Thursday, July 4, 7:20 PM ET

Location: SunTrust Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, ESPN (Out-of-market only)

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, Rock 100.5, Braves Radio Network