Series preview: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Monday-Thursday (SPSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 106.7
Probable starting pitchers:
Monday: Braves RH Aaron Harang (11-11, 3.68 ERA) vs. LH Francisco Liriano (6-11, 3.45)
Tuesday: Braves LH Alex Wood (11-10, 2.78) vs. RH Gerrit Cole (10-5, 3.85)
Wednesday: Braves RH Julio Teheran (13-13, 2.88) vs. LH Jeff Locke (7-5, 3.60)
Thursday: Braves TBA vs. RH Edinson Volquez (12-7, 3.15)
About the Braves:
Batting: The Braves scored two runs on Sunday in a 10-2 loss that eliminated them from postseason play. It was the 60th time this season the Braves have scored two runs or fewer and they've gone 8-52 in those games. Chris Johnson leads the National League with a .404 batting average against left-handers and the Braves face two of them this series. Justin Upton was 2-for-19 (.105) for the homestand and 7-for-56 (.125) for the month when he went 1-for-4 with a double on Sunday.
Pitching: Harang hasn't had a winning season since going 14-7 with the Padres in 2011 and has only one in his past seven years. His 11 wins give him his highest win total since that 2011 season. For his career, Harang is 16-7 with a 4.15 ERA in 27 starts against the Pirates. He beat them the one time he faced them on Aug. 19, holding them to three earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. He's allowed only two earned runs in his past 14 innings over two starts, while taking both a win and a loss against the Nationals.
Miscellaneous: Now that the Braves are out of playoff contention, the best they can do is play spoiler for the Brewers and try to knock off the Pirates who were 4 ½ games up on the Brewers for the second wild card spot Sunday. The Braves won two of three at PNC Park Aug. 19-21, scoring 18 runs in the first two games. The Braves have needed their past 10 games to score 18 runs.
About the Pirates:
Batting: Josh Harrison and Justin Morneau of the Rockies are tied for the NL batting lead at .318. Harrison has a nine-game hitting streak, over which he has hit 15-for-41 (.366) with two doubles and three RBIs. The Pirates have won 13 of their past 16 games while averaging 4.7 runs per game. Starling Marte has hit in six straight games, going 8-for-23 (.348) with two home runs and three RBIs.
Pitching: Liriano went 1-7 with a 4.72 ERA in his first 15 starts before the All-Star break. He's gone 5-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. He had a 20-inning scoreless streak snapped in the fifth inning of his 9-1 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday. John Holdzkom, the 6-foot-9 right-hander the Pirates signed out of San Angelo, Texas of the independent leagues, is scoreless through his first seven outings in September, allowing only one hit, two walks and striking out 11.
Miscellaneous: After a stretch of 20 years without a winning season, the Pirates have posted their first back-to-back winning seasons since they won three straight NL East titles from 1990-92. They were 4 ½ games ahead of the Brewers for the second wild card spot and just one-half game behind the Giants for the first one after they beat the Brewers 1-0 on Sunday.
- Carroll Rogers
