Braves at Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks host the Atlanta Braves on Sunday for the finale of a four-game series between two teams seeking playoff spots, and both have experienced joy and sorrow in contests that have felt like postseason matchups. Atlanta pulled out a 5-4, 10-inning victory on Saturday as Freddie Freeman scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error in a contest in which the teams combined to commit six miscues, strand 20 baserunners and go 3-for-23 with runners in scoring position.
It may not have been the prettiest game played, but the result resonated throughout the National League standings as the division-leading Braves moved 3 ½ games ahead of Philadelphia in the East while the Diamondbacks dropped 2 ½ behind first-place Colorado in the West. Freeman, who at one point was leading the NL in hitting, entered Saturday batting .164 with 16 strikeouts in his previous 16 games and finished 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base before scoring on Arizona’s fourth error of the night. The Diamondbacks finished with just five hits but benefited from nine walks and two Atlanta errors, but they failed to cash in with the bases loaded in the eighth and ninth innings. David Peralta collected a hit and two walks to improve to 6-for-20 over five games of Arizona’s current homestand.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FS South (Atlanta), FS Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Touki Toussaint (1-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (5-2, 4.25)
Toussaint gets another spot start despite losing Monday against Boston, a game in which he worked four hitless innings before surrendering three runs and four hits in 4 2/3 frames. The 22-year-old, who beat Miami last month after yielding one run and two hits in six innings, has registered 10 strikeouts in 10 2/3 major-league frames. Toussaint will be facing the organization that drafted him before trading him to Atlanta in 2015.
Ray has pitched very well in his last three starts, giving up two runs and 11 hits with 26 strikeouts and a .190 opponents' batting average in 16 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old struck out a season-high 10 in his last start, a victory over San Diego on Tuesday in which he gave up two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless frames. Ray, who owns a 2.90 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break, is 0-2 with a 4.82 ERA in two career starts against Atlanta.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Braves are 41-30 on the road this season and will finish .500 or better away from home for the first time since 2012.
2. Arizona 1B Paul Goldschmidt, who entered Saturday hitting .300, finished 0-for-4 to drop to .298.
3. Atlanta SS Dansby Swanson, a former top overall pick by Arizona, singled, tripled and ended the game by throwing out Nick Ahmed at home plate.