Braves at Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox designated first baseman Hanley Ramirez on Friday in part to open up more playing time for Mitch Moreland, and the latter is quickly proving he belongs in that spot. Moreland will try to stay hot and lead the Red Sox to a three-game interleague sweep when they host the Atlanta Braves in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Moreland slotted into the No. 4 spot in the lineup behind J.D. Martinez and is 4-for-9 with a home run, a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored in the first two games of the series. Moreland is batting .321 with a .652 slugging percentage in 112 at-bats for the Red Sox, who own the best record in the majors at 36-16 and are winners of six of their last seven games. The Braves, who dropped their last three contests, entered the series with the best offense in the National League but are struggling to keep up with Boston thanks to a pitching staff that surrendered 17 hits and allowed eight two-out RBIs in the first two games of the series. Atlanta will try to stop the bleeding with right-hander Mike Foltynewicz on Sunday but faces a tough test while going up against Boston ace Chris Sale.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, FS South (Atlanta), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Mike Foltynewicz (3-3, 2.72 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Chris Sale (5-1, 2.17)
Foltynewicz allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of his 10 starts but completed six innings in just three of those turns. The 26-year-old, who struggles with his control at times and owns 26 walks in 53 total innings, surrendered a total of one earned run in his last three outings and struck out 19 in 16 innings in that span. Foltynewicz made two relief appearances against Boston previously in his career, yielding a total of one run and six hits in 3 1/3 frames.
Sale is 4-0 in his last six starts and breezed through 7 2/3 innings at Tampa Bay on Tuesday, striking out nine while allowing one earned run and four hits. The Florida native notched a total of 45 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings over his last four turns, bumping his season total to 96 punchouts. Sale is 6-5 with a 2.84 ERA in 26 career interleague games - 18 starts - but lost his only previous turn against Atlanta while getting knocked around for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings as a member of the Chicago White Sox on July 8, 2016.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia (knee) made his season debut on Saturday and went 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
2. Braves RF Nick Markakis is 3-of-7 with three doubles and three RBIs in the series.
3. Atlanta RHP Anibal Sanchez (hamstring) came through a rehab start on Friday with no issues and is expected to be activated off the 10-day DL next week.