AJ Smith-Shawver, Braves look to extend streak against Phillies
The Atlanta Braves will look to extend their winning streak to a season-best eight games when they continue a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves took the series opener 4-2 behind a bounce back performance on the mound by Spencer Strider and home runs from Austin Riley and Matt Olson. Rookie AJ Smith-Shawver will make his third career start for Atlanta while while Philadelphia will go with veteran Aaron Nola.
Atlanta added two more homers in Tuesday’s series opening win and now lead the majors with 128. They have homered 19 times and scored 60 runs during their current seven-game winning streak. Ronald Acuña Jr. had two hits in the opener and picked up his league leading 31st stolen base of the season. Eddie Rosario didn’t start, but came off the bench and finished with two hits including a double. He has hit safely in six-straight and is 10-for-18 with a double and five home runs during that stretch.
AJ Smith-Shawver began the season at High-A, but flew through the minors and made his major league debut on June 4 in a relief appearance in Arizona. He joined the rotation after that and has pitched well in starts against the Nationals and Rockies. He allowed six hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings against Colorado.
Nola is no stranger to the Braves as he has faced them 31 times in his career and has a 3.51 ERA in 194 2/3 innings. He’s had an up and down season to date and will enter tonight’s start with a 4.66 ERA and a 4.17 FIP in 94 2/3 innings. Nola has been hit around a bit of late. He allowed four runs in 6 2/3 innings in his last start against Arizona and allowed seven hits and six runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Dodgers before that.
Riley’s homer Tuesday night was the 16th of his career against the Phillies. He has had plenty of success against Nola in his career hitting .444/.479/.889 with five home runs in 48 plate appearances against the Phillies’ right-hander. Acuña also has good numbers against Nola in his career hitting .350/.447/.775 with four home runs in 47 plate appearances.
Wednesday’s game is scheduled to get underway at 6:40 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports South.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, June 21, 6:40 p.m. ET
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TV: Bally Sports South, MLB Network
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
Source: Battery Power
