June 27, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (center) congratulates teammates in the dugout after finishing the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports The Atlanta Braves will play their fourth game in three different cities in a three-day span when they open a nine-game home series Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Right-hander Charlie Morton (4-4, 4.20 ERA), who is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA in just one career start against Pittsburgh, is expected to start the opener for Atlanta.
The Pirates, who are riding a two-game winning streak, will counter with veteran left-hander Martin Perez (1-3, 4.71 ERA).
Perez is expected to be removed from the injured list after a groin injury kept him out for a month. His last major league outing came against the Braves, when he exited with a groin ailment after three one-run innings. In his career against Atlanta, he is 0-1 with an ERA of 8.00.
The Braves return home after a 3-4 road trip that started impressively when they won two of three games against New York at Yankee Stadium. However, the trek ended with three losses in the last four games.
The Braves split a doubleheader in St. Louis on Wednesday, then flew to Chicago where they lost 1-0 to the White Sox in a make-up game on Thursday afternoon. Atlanta managed just six hits while losing the second game of the doubleheader 4-1 to the Cardinals, then the Braves were shut out on three hits by five White Sox pitchers.
“We won a series against the Yankees (and) we felt pretty good coming out of there,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said after Thursday’s loss. “We just couldn’t score any runs. The pitching was really good. … Today we got a good start (from Chris Sale). We just have to get going offensively.”
Sale allowed just one run — a first-inning home run by Luis Robert Jr. — on four hits in seven innings while striking out a season-high 11 batters in the loss.
“We have to continue to work hard, do our job,” Sale said. “It’s tough, but we’re going home and we’ll use this energy to move things in the right direction.” »
Atlanta nearly tied the score in the eighth, but Chicago’s Tommy Pham caught Marcell Ozuna’s shot off the right field wall.
“A little frustrated, but we’ll figure it out when we get home,” Ozuna said. “We’ve got a long stay there, and we should be fine.”
After playing three games against the Pirates, the Braves have a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants, followed by a three-game National League East showdown with the first-ranked Philadelphia Phillies.
The Pirates, who won two of three games against Atlanta May 24-26 in Pittsburgh, began a six-game road trip this week by winning the final two games of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Unlike the Braves, the Pirates should be well rested. Pittsburgh, which didn’t play Thursday, returns to the field after a 6-1 victory Wednesday afternoon. Andrew McCutchen and Rowdy Tellez homered and Luis L. Ortiz allowed one run on four hits in six innings while striking out seven.
“We didn’t play well the first day here,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of the team’s 11-5 loss Monday. “We had some good hitting but we didn’t throw the ball well. To be able to bounce back and win two in a division series was really important for us, and I’m proud of our group.”
Pittsburgh’s Aroldis Chapman retired two of three batters he faced in a scoreless ninth to move within one out of Billy Wagner (1,196) for the most whiffs by a left-handed reliever in major league history.
Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds has a 23-game hitting streak, the longest streak in the majors this season.
–Field level media
