The visiting Miami Marlins will try to slow Travis d’Arnaud and the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night in the second contest of a three-game series.
D’Arnaud hit a two-run homer in Atlanta’s 3-0 win in the series opener on Monday. He has five homers in his last three starts after his blast caromed high off the left-field foul pole. On the current homestand, d’Arnaud is 6-for-10 with five homers, 10 RBIs, six runs and two walks.
The 35-year-old catcher didn’t have a homer this season until last week.
“I was drifting a little bit too much,” d’Arnaud said. “We just worked to make sure I stayed back and didn’t try to do too much with my lower half and just stayed short.”
The pitching matchup for Tuesday will feature a pair of left-handers in Atlanta’s Max Fried (1-0, 7.71 ERA) against Miami’s Trevor Rogers (0-2, 3.92).
Fried got moved up a spot in the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez originally had been scheduled to pitch the series opener on Monday, but the Braves recalled Bryce Elder from Triple-A Gwinnett instead. Atlanta, which has won seven of its past eight games, then pushed Lopez to the series finale on Wednesday.
Fried will make his fifth start of the season. He allowed three runs on seven hits with four walks in five innings of a no-decision against the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
“For me, it’s been frustrating the last couple (outings),” Fried said. “Giving it up and not giving us a chance to win, so having a tight game through five, six innings and being able to keep it there for our offense to go off in the way that they did — it was nice to contribute.”
Fried has made 13 career starts against Miami, going 4-3 with a 4.59 ERA. He faced the Marlins in Miami on April 12 and gave up one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings of an 8-1 victory.
Rogers also will make his fifth start of the season. In his last appearance on Wednesday, he allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants.
After the game, Rogers received a compliment from Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., who told him, “You’re finally pitching out there.”
Rogers said, “It was kind of hard for me to hide my smile right there.”
Rogers is seeking his first career win against the Braves. In eight career starts, he is 0-6 with a 5.70 ERA. He started against the Braves on April 12 during the team’s first series in Miami and took the loss after giving up two runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Miami second baseman Luis Arraez has a 14-game hitting streak against Atlanta, batting .375 (21-for-56) during that span. Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. has hit safely in 10 straight games against the Braves.
Atlanta has won three of four games against Miami this season. The Braves were 7-1 against the Marlins in Atlanta last season.
–Field Level Media
