The Atlanta Braves might be experiencing one of their few little hiccups as they head to Pittsburgh to open a four-game series against the Pirates on Monday.
The Braves, who sit atop the major league standings, have lost two in a row, thus dropping a series against the Cubs in Chicago over the weekend.
They had won six of seven games before that series.
“I don’t think there was any excuses other than we just didn’t play good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the back-to-back losses.
The Pirates, well, they saved the best for last. Atlanta is the only National League team they have not played this season.
Facing that powerhouse comes on the heels of splitting a four-game road series against the top team in the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Pirates, trying to finish strong with an eye toward the future with several rookies and young players on the roster, are 2-0-2 in their past four series and, overall, are 9-7 since a five-game losing streak coming out of the All-Star break.
“It always feels good to be able to split with the team that is winning the division, and it gives us that push to continue the rest of the season,” one of those rookies, catcher Endy Rodriguez, said through an interpreter after he went 3-for-4 with a homer on Sunday in a 4-1 win.
In the series opener, Atlanta right-hander Spencer Strider (12-3, 3.61 ERA) is scheduled to start opposite Pittsburgh right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2 5.18).
After two consecutive no-decisions, Strider picked up a win last Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up a run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and two walks.
He has at least nine strikeouts in eight straight games, and he hit a milestone against the Angels.
Facing the second batter of the game, superstar Shohei Ohtani, Strider notched his 200th strikeout of the season in 123 1/3 innings, besting his big-league record from last year when he became the fastest to 200 strikeouts by reaching the mark in 130 innings.
“He’s been very impressive since he got here,” Snitker said. “It was great to see how he handled things last year and just how he picked right back up this year. I’ve been impressed since the first day I saw him.”
Strider takes his strikeout record, well, in stride.
“It’s neat,” he said. “The goal is to just win games. I mean, you know, that kind of stuff is neat. But you know, breaking records is not always a formula to winning games.”
Strider has faced the Pirates once, a start and a win on June 10, 2022, when as a rookie he pitched 5 2/3 scoreless, four-hit innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Bido, who has never faced the Braves, is coming off a loss on Wednesday, when he gave up four runs in three innings against the Detroit Tigers.
That outing came after he was the second man in during a bullpen game on July 22 and threw three scoreless innings against the Angels.
Pittsburgh isn’t rich in starters — “We’re kind of mixing and matching,” manager Derek Shelton said — and, during a stretch of 16 straight days without a day off that continues with the Braves series, needs the rookie in the rotation.
–Field Level Media
