NEXT: AT COLORADO ROCKIES
Thursday
Time: 8:40 p.m.
TV: SPSO
Probable starting pitchers: Braves LH Alex Wood (6-5, 3.34 ERA) vs. RH Kyle Kendrick (3-10, 6.00)
Comment: Wood is still looking for consistency start-to-start this year, and Coors Field is a hard place to find it. Wood is coming off his first home win in six starts this season but did so with nine runs of support, a 9-5 win, and what he called his worst command of the year. This will be Wood first's ever appearance at Coors Field. He's started against the Rockies only once, at Turner Field, allowing three runs in seven innings of a win on July 30, 2013. Kendrick is tied for the second-most losses in the National League but the Braves know better than to relax against him. Kendrick is 9-4 with a 3.44 ERA in 25 games (19 starts) against the Braves for his career, all while with the Phillies.
Friday
Time: 8:10 p.m.
TV: FSSO
Probable starting pitchers: Braves RH Shelby Miller (5-4, 2.07) vs. RH David Hale (2-4, 5.89)
Comment: The newly-named All-Star is still looking for his first win since May 17. The Braves are averaging just 2.0 runs a game when Miller is on the mound and that lack of run support has kept him winless his past nine starts despite a 2.80 ERA in that span. The Braves will face their former third round draft pick out of the Walker School in Marietta in Hale, who rotated between the bullpen and spot-starting over the past two seasons for Atlanta. Hale was traded in a four-player deal to the Rockies on Jan. 30. The Princeton graduate and sinkerballer is 0-4 with a 7.16 ERA over his past five starts with the Rockies.
Saturday
Time: 4:10 p.m.
TV: FSSO
Probable starting pitchers: RH Matt Wisler (2-1, 2.60) vs. LH Jorge De La Rosa (6-3, 4.46)
Comment: Wisler has answered the call, winning three of his first four major league starts in impressive fashion. He's been sharper at home, though, going 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA in two starts at Turner Field (one earned run in 13 1/3 innings) and 1-1 with a 6.52 ERA in road starts in Washington and Milwaukee. It'll be as important as ever to keep his pitches down in the strike zone at Coors Field. The Rockies lost De La Rosa's first four starts of the season but since then have won eight of his past nine. De La Rosa is 6-1 with a 2.96 ERA since May 16.
Sunday
Time: 4:10 p.m.
TV: FSSO
Probable starting pitchers: LH Manny Banuelos (1-0, 0.82) vs. RH Chad Bettis (4-4, 4.95)
Comment: Banuelos is coming off his first major league win, when he went 5 1/3 innings Tuesday in Milwaukee, allowing just one run on a solo homer by Jonathan Lucroy. He's failed to pitch past the sixth inning in each of his first two starts, but he's been effective when he's in the game – allowing just one run in 11 innings combined. Bettis is coming off of a demoralizing start in Anaheim where he gave up 10 earned runs and four home runs in just 2 1/3 innings of a 10-2 loss to the Angels. It was an anomaly for a starter who has given up three or fewer runs in eight of his first 11 starts this year.
- Carroll Rogers Walton
