Spencer Strider, Braves look for another series win against the White Sox
The Atlanta Braves will try to capture their 12th straight series win Saturday evening when they continue a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. Atlanta got a first inning grand slam from Matt Olson in Friday’s series opener and coasted to a 9-0 win. Spencer Strider will get the start Saturday for the Braves while the White Sox will go with righty Lance Lynn.
Strider entered the All-Star break on a roll and is looking to reinsert himself into the Cy Young Award conversation in the National League. Strider leads the majors in strikeouts and is averaging a ridiculous 14.27 K’s per nine over his first 18 starts. He struck out 11 and allowed just four hits while tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings in his last start against the Rays. He’s allowed a total of four runs over his last four starts combined (26 innings) and has 39 strikeouts over that span.
Lynn is hoping for better results in the second half of the season after struggling through the first half. He enters Saturday with a career-worst 6.03 ERA in 103 innings. His 4.81 FIP tells a bit of a different story, but it still isn’t good. Lynn is averaging over 11 strikeouts per nine, but has already allowed 22 home runs, which is three more than he allowed in 21 starts last season. He did enter the break on a good note allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings against the Blue Jays to go along with 11 strikeouts. Lynn has a 2.84 ERA in six career starts against Atlanta, but hasn’t faced them since 2017 when he was with the Cardinals.
Olson’s grand slam pushed his RBI total for the season to 76 which leads the National League and is just two behind the Rangers’ Adolis Garcia for the major league lead. His 30 homers are two behind Shohei Ohtani. Olson finished with 34 home runs last season.
The Braves have now homered in 27-straight games which ties Texas in 2002 for the second-longest streak in the Modern Era. The 2019 Yankees hold the major league record with 31-straight. Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris all finished with two hits in Friday’s opener. Albies has three multi-hit games in his last six while Arcia has three in his last five.
With Friday’s win, Atlanta continues to beat up on the central divisions in both leagues. Atlanta is 11-2 against the AL Central and 8-1 against the NL Central entering play Saturday.
First pitch for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, July 15,
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: FOX
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
Source: Battery Power
