Series preview: vs Miami Marlins
When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Monday-Tuesday (SPSO), 12:10 p.m. Wednesday (SPSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 106.7
Probable starting pitchers:
Monday: Braves RH Julio Teheran (2-1, 1.93 ERA) vs. RH Tom Koehler (2-1, 1.89 ERA)
Tuesday: Braves LH Alex Wood (2-2, 1.67) vs. RH Jose Fernandez (2-1, 2.66)
Wednesday: Braves RH Aaron Harang (3-1, 0.70) vs. RH Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 3.55)
About the Braves:
Batting: Jason Heyward had three hits Sunday after going only 2-for-17 the first four games on the road trip. Dan Uggla has hit safely in six of his past seven games, while going 9-for-27 (.333). He started the season 6-for-37 (.162) through his first 10 games. Freddie Freeman has hit safely in 15 of the Braves 18 games this season and was leading the league in both on-base percentage (.493) and slugging percentage (.746) before Sunday.
Pitching: Teheran is coming off his first career shutout when he out-dueled Cliff Lee, who also pitched a complete game, to a 1-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night. Teheran is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts against the Marlins. Braves starters had a seven-game streak of allowing one or fewer runs snapped Sunday after David Hale gave up three runs (two earned) in six innings, which was still a quality start.
Miscellaneous: The Braves are 10-5 against the NL East this season. They went 13-6 against the Marlins last season. The Braves have three of the top eight leaders in ERA in the National League with Harang (0.70) first, Ervin Santana (0.86) second, and Wood eighth (1.67). The Marlins Koehler is 12th (1.89) and Teheran tied for 13th (1.93).
About the Marlins:
Batting: Giancarlo Stanton is tied for the majors' lead with six home runs and leads the majors with 26 RBIs in his 20 games played. He has multi-hit games in four of his past seven games and five-RBI games in two of his past four. Marcell Ozuna has hit safely in 15 of the Marlins' 18 games, and is tied for the team-lead with a .333 batting average. That matches Christian Yelich, who brings a 14-game hitting streak into this series.
Pitching: Koehler might not be the household name but he's leading the Marlins rotation in ERA (1.89), ahead of Fernandez (2.66), Henderson Alvarez (2.66) and Eovaldi (3.55). He shut out the Nationals for seven innings in his last start, despite five walks. The Braves face Fernandez Tuesday for the first time since his benches-clearing showdown with Brian McCann and subsequent apology after he admired a home run.
Miscellaneous: The Marlins are 1-8 against the NL East this month and 8-2 against everybody else, claiming series victories against the Rockies, Padres and a weekend sweep of the Mariners. The Marlins are 9-4 at Marlins Park this season and winless on the road at 0-6.
- Carroll Rogers
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