Braves at Rays
Maybe the road is a good place for the Atlanta Braves, the surprising leader of the National League East, who open a six-game trip Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays after being swept at home over the weekend by San Francisco. The Braves are 11-7 on the road overall, winning five straight before they returned home and saw their starting pitching shelled for 18 runs on 28 hits in 12 1/3 innings, after Atlanta starters had posted a 2.41 ERA in its previous 25 games.
“We’ve just got to stay consistent,” Atlanta center fielder Ender Inciarte told the media after Sunday’s 4-3 loss, in which the Braves battled back with two runs in the ninth. “It’s a long season. We’ve just got to play hard and hopefully keep winning games.” The Rays lost 2-1 to Toronto at home on Sunday but have won 11 of their past 15 overall to pull within two games of .500, after losing eight in a row in early on. “We’ve been playing really, really good baseball the past two weeks,” Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer told reporters after Sunday’s loss. “Even a couple of losses we’ve had, we’ve played great baseball.” Right fielder Carlos Gomez collected three hits Sunday and is hitting .273 over his past 11 games, after batting just .158 in his opening 19 games.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Sean Newcomb (2-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Rays LH Blake Snell (4-1, 2.55)
Newcomb has experienced the ups and downs common with any young pitcher through the first 25 starts of his big-league career, but two of his past five outings have been among the very best of his first 12 months in the majors. He shut out Colorado over six innings on April 8 with nine strikeouts, then Wednesday in New York held the Mets to two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in seven innings. The 24-year-old has posted a 2.37 ERA with 36 strikeouts and two homers allowed over his last 30 1/3 innings.
Snell is solidifying himself as a key part of Tampa Bay’s rotation through his first seven starts, allowing two runs or fewer six times and starting the week in the top 10 in the AL in victories and WHIP (0.94). The 25-year-old, who won five times with a 4.04 ERA in 24 starts a year ago, closed April with four consecutive victories and struck out 34 with only six walks in 26 2/3 innings in that stretch. Snell opened May with a no-decision Wednesday at Detroit, giving up two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk over 6 2/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Braves are hitting .360 with a 1.089 OPS in the first inning this season, scoring 36 runs on 54 hits in 33 games.
2. Atlanta 3B Jose Bautista, who went 3-for-10 with two walks in his debut series over the weekend, will DH in the two games at Tampa Bay.
3. Tampa Bay C Wilson Ramos is batting.315 in 25 games with five doubles, four homers and 16 RBIs, and has hit safely in 14 straight contests.