The Braves open a two-game interleague series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. Here are five things to know going into the opening game.
1. Rays starter Blake Snell is a hard-throwing left-hander who's 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA and has 45 strikeouts in 42-1/3 innings, with 12 walks and 28 hits allowed for a 0.94 WHIP that's tied for 12th-best among major league qualifiers. His .583 opponents' OPS ranks 16th in the majors, ahead of Jake Arrieta (.586), Chris Sale (.595) and Mike Clevinger (.595). His four-seam fastball has an average velocity of 95.1 mph.
2. Former Braves outfielder Mallex Smith, the Rays' center fielder with Kevin Kiermaier injured, ranks 10th in the majors with a .330 average and 13th in OBP (.413), one spot behind Freddie Freeman (.414). Smith is 30-for-91 with four doubles, two triples and eight stolen bases in 12 attempts. In 14 home games he's hit .356 with a .453 OBP and .919 OPS.
3. The game features a matchup of lefties, Snell facing the Braves' Sean Newcomb -- he pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball Wednesday against the Mets -- and the two teams with the majors' highest batting averages and on-base percentages against lefties. The Braves lead the majors in average (.296), OBP (.353) and slugging percentage (.478) vs. lefties, while the Rays are second in average (.276) and OBP (.348). The Rays are second in the American League in overall average (.262) and third in OBP (.334).
4. Against lefties, the Braves' Ozzie Albies ranks second in the majors with a 1.457 OPS, one spot ahead of Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton (1.382). Albies is third in the majors with a .471 average (16-for-34) vs. lefties and teammate Nick Markakis is sixth at .415 (17-for-41).
5. The Braves scored nine runs in three games while being swept by the Giants in a series that ended Sunday, but still rank third in the majors in scoring at 5.48 runs per game, behind the Yankees (5.79) and Red Sox (5.65). The Braves are fourth in the majors and first in the National League in per-game run differential, outscoring opponents by an average of 1.27 runs per game.
