The Atlanta Braves seem poised to go as far as their starting rotation will take them.
If you believe Braves manager Brian Snitker, that means the sky’s the limit.
The Braves will go for a three-game sweep Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. Atlanta is coming off an 8-6 win Tuesday in 10 innings, a result that followed a 10-6 victory in the series opener.
“I think just the fact that we’ve kind of stabilized our starting rotation has been a big thing, where we have five guys,” Snitker said. “We protected them early, and now they’ve got to go, and I think that’s going to be big. … It’s going to be about our pitching and especially our starters.”
Braves left-hander Chris Sale (14-3, 2.62 ERA) will try to close the sweep. The former Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox pitcher has enjoyed a resurgent season at age 35 and has 191 strikeouts in 147 2/3 innings this season. He leads the National League in both wins and ERA.
Sale has notched three quality starts in a row heading into the series finale against the Twins. During that span, he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA, and he has walked three and struck out 26 in 20 innings.
This will be Sale’s 31st career appearance and 23rd career start against the Twins, who have lost three games in a row and seven of their past nine. Sale is 11-6 with a 3.81 ERA in his career against Minnesota, including one start last season in which he allowed one run on three hits in six innings but received a no-decision in an extra-inning win for the Red Sox.
The Twins will counter on Wednesday with right-hander David Festa (2-3, 5.20 ERA), who is set to make the eighth start of his rookie campaign. He will look to bounce back from a turbulent outing in which he gave up three runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings in a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
Festa has never faced the Braves. He is 2-2 with a 4.30 ERA in five career interleague games (four starts).
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is looking for his players to better support Festa and other starters. Minnesota is trying to keep pace with the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central division.
The Twins enter Wednesday’s contest 2 1/2 games behind the division co-leaders.
“We know we’ve got to continue to do more,” Baldelli said. “There are going to be some people in that room, myself included, that are frustrated with the situation, with the results. But the results are done. The results are over with.
“So, worrying about today’s loss and stewing about that and losing it over that, I mean, we’ve got some stuff that we need to do. And we have guys that can do it. …
“We’ll continue to do our work and not make excuses for anything going on. We’ve got to play better. We’re very capable of doing that.”
Braves outfielder Michael Harris II will look for a repeat performance at the plate. He returned from injury Tuesday and went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run.
–Field Level Media
