Series preview: at Phillies
When (TV): 7:05 p.m. Friday (FSSO), 7:05 p.m. Saturday (FSSO), 1:35 p.m. Sunday (FSSO)
Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5
Probable starting pitchers:
Friday: Braves LH Mike Minor (13-5, 3.08 ERA) vs. LH Cliff Lee (11-6, 3.09)
Saturday: Braves LH Alex Wood (3-3, 3.15) vs. RH Kyle Kendrick (10-12, 4.51)
Sunday: Braves LH Paul Maholm (10-10, 4.41) vs. LH Cole Hamels (6-13, 3.50)
About the Braves:
Batting:
B.J. Upton went 11-for-27 (.407) with two doubles and a home run in eight games during the Braves’ recent homestand and is expected to bat leadoff against Lee and Hamels. The Braves haven’t faced a left-handed starter since Jonathon Niese on Aug. 21, seeing 13 consecutive right-handers since. Evan Gattis should get two starts against the lefties as well. He was 4-for-7 with a double and a home run in his first two starts back from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Pitching: The Braves have won five of Minor's past six starts. The only loss came after he pitched a career-low 1 2/3 innings in an eventual extra-innings loss to the Nationals. Minor has pitched seven innings in each of his past two starts, allowing five earned runs, two walks and striking out eight. This is Minor's first start against the Phillies in 2013. He's 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA in six games (five starts) against them for his career.
Miscellaneous: The Braves' magic number is 10, meaning any combination of Braves' wins and Nationals' losses totaling 10 and they will clinch the NL East. The Nationals have won six of nine to keep pace of late and play three games against the Marlins this weekend, a team they swept Aug. 27-29.
About the Phillies:
Batting: Chase Utley is batting .357 (10-for-28) with a double, a triple and three RBIs in his past eight games. He is hitting .304 (14-for-46) with three doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight RBIs and seven runs in 12 games against the Braves this season. Carlos Ruiz got off to a slow start this season between a 25-game suspension and a hamstring injury, but he's coming off his hottest month — hitting .333 (29-for-87) in August with eight doubles, four homers and 11 RBIs.
Pitching: Lee took the loss 4-1 to Alex Wood and the Braves on Aug. 4. It was one of four Phillies losses in six starts Lee made in August, despite his 3.23 ERA over that time. Brian McCann is 9-for-26 (.346) with three doubles against him. Lee walked three and threw 113 pitches in only five innings his previous time out, a 4-3 loss to the Cubs.
Miscellaneous: The Braves won two of three against the Phillies on Aug. 12-14, and manager Charlie Manuel was fired before the series finale, unknown to most everyone at Turner Field but general manager Ruben Amaro. The Phillies are 10-10 under Ryne Sandberg. They just lost two of three to the Nationals. Tuesday night's crowd of 28,826 was the smallest at Citizens Bank Park since April 3, 2008.
About the Author
