Braves at Marlins
THE STORY: The Atlanta Braves are struggling to hold onto
the National League wild card lead, but face a favorable matchup when
they visit the Florida Marlins on Tuesday in the second of a three-game
series. The Braves, who are 6-12 since Sept. 1, lead the St. Louis
Cardinals by 2 1/2 games. On Monday, the Braves failed to hold a lead
with two outs in the ninth inning. Florida has suddenly refused to play a
patsy for the Braves, who have beaten the Marlins 11 of 16 times
overall and won six of seven times in Florida. Florida sends out
righthander Anibal Sanchez, who has had trouble with the Braves.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), FS Florida
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Randall Delgado (0-1, 3.24 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Anibal Sanchez (8-8, 3.62).
Only
the lack of run support has prevented Delgado from getting more
attention. He has allowed only one run in three of his last four starts,
but has received a no-decision in each case. Opponents are batting only
.204 against Delgado, who gave up four hits and one run in five innings
in his last start against the Marlins on Sept. 14. The Braves would
like to see Delgado pitch deeper into the game, but that isn’t an issue
with the expanded rosters. Sanchez is 1-2 over his last five starts with
a 1.96 ERA, a stretch that includes a one-hit shutout win against
Pittsburgh. He quietly ranks sixth in the National League in strikeouts
(191), even though he has had only two games with double-digit
strikeouts. Sanchez is 0-2 with a 12.15 ERA in two starts against the
Braves - he was knocked out after allowing five runs in 1 2/3 innings
against the Braves on Aug. 10. He is 4-9 with a 5.09 ERA in 15 career
starts against Atlanta.
ABOUT THE BRAVES (87-67): After
blowing a ninth-inning lead Monday, the Braves are 62-4 when leading
after eight innings. Dan Uggla hit his career-best 35th home run on
Monday, which gave Atlanta 60 homers in the seventh inning or later, a
major league best. Jason Heyward continues to show signs of life - he
has been on base seven times over his last 10 plate appearances and
Monday hit his 14th home run.
ABOUT THE MARLINS (70-84):
Florida improved to 4-59 when trailing after eight innings after Omar
Infante's two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave
the Marlins a 6-5 victory. Emilio Bonifacio needs two steals to become
the club’s first 40-base thief since Hanley Ramirez in 2007. Infante has
hit safely in 39-of-49 games since the All-Star break. Clay Hensley has
won the last three games in which he has appeared, allowing no runs
over five innings.
FINAL PITCH: Atlanta starter Tommy
Hanson threw a 25-pitch session Monday and the club will see how he
feels afterward to decide the next step. The club has said it wouldn’t
put Hanson on the playoff roster unless he was able to make an
appearance with the big league team before the end of the season.