The games best two teams square off this weekend at the Trop in Tampa. The Rays lead the best division in baseball by virtue of winning 13-of-15 to start the season. Atlanta, on the other hand, rolled through June 21-4 and has won 25-of-30.
Something’s gotta give, right?
The Braves are winners of their last 10 series and the hottest team in baseball over the past six week. Tampa lost the final two games of their series in Seattle, and were just swept by the Filthies. Filthadelphia left Tampa after winning three in a row to extend the losing streak for the Rays to five games.
I never like playing a team in the middle of a losing streak, but if I have to, this is the one..
Historic offense
The Braves are on a historic run offensively. Atlanta has six regulars with at least 15 home runs. We are currently tied with the 2019 Twins for the most homers before the All-Star Game with three yet to play. Matt Olson is the NL’s leader in home runs and RBI, but is not even an MVP candidate because Ronald Acuna Jr. is on this team.
Charlie Morton (8-6, 3.57) and Tyler Glasnow (2-2, 4.50) square off in game one.. Morton kept the ball in the yard and missed back feet in his last start, though he still threw too many pitches in 5 2/3. He didn’t miss as many bats as he often does, but was good enough to earn a win. Glasnow has dropped his last two decisions.
While neither team has much experience against the other’s starter, the game will come down to the bullpens. The Braves bullpen is at full strength after a day off. Meanwhile, Tampa’s threw a lot of innings yesterday. Advantage to the team who chases the starter first. I know, I know…thanks Captain O!
Good news
Ace Max Fried begins a rehab assignment at AAA Gwinnett on Sunday. This is great news for Friend and the Braves. The team keeps on winning, but with a healthy Fried – the rest of the league is screwed.
Watch the best two teams in baseball square off at 6:40 ET/5:40 CT on Apple TV+
Notwithstanding their current skid, the Rays still have a better run differential than we do, and they play in the best division in baseball – the only division where all five teams are above .500. They’re good every year and they do it by being well-rounded and deep. Even though the preseason projection systems saw their offseason as underwhelming and generally saw them in the middle of their own division, they are, as usual, among the best teams in baseball.
That said, from a fan’s perspective, a weekend series between a couple of the best teams in baseball right before the All-Star Break is just about perfect. I’d love to see us play to the height of our abilities against another of the best teams in baseball. I’d love to see Charlie punch out his old club, and I’d love to see Ronald continue his ridiculous assault on the power-speed record books. Let’s GO!
The Rays are a well-run organization, for sure, and are running third in basically every offensive category that matters this season. I think this series is gonna be a ton of fun, and I hope we can say the Braves won their final 11 series before the All-Star break on Sunday afternoon!
Let’s go!
And don’t sleep on the Orioles. They’re a little under the radar… but like the Marlins, they have the 2nd-best record in their league.
Seen them play twice this season, incl. last night. In the 1st game, they had an 8-run inning, and last night they had a 7-run inning followed by a 5-run inning in a 14-1 win.
Yankee Stadium pretty much cleared out in the middle innings, prompting someone behind me to say, “If you wanna beat the crowd tonight, you gotta stay to the end.”
Apple TV+ tonight… yuck.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Braves fare against Tyler Glasnow. He’s striking out plenty of batters this season (36.4% K rate), but he’s also running an absurdly high HR/FB rate (21.4%). Overall, the Braves have done a great job of avoiding strikeouts this year (21.2% K rate, seventh lowest in MLB) and have put the ball in the air quite a bit. If that continues tonight, we could see some fireworks from this Braves offense.
I’m hoping for a lot of fireworks, starting with Ronald in the top of the first!
There’s one, StevenW!
Got internet for a moment! In Fairplay, CO, 5 minutes from the world renowned South Park. We are at 11K elevation, and it’s taken 3 of us down with some serious headaches and vomiting. Luckily, I think we are all now acclimated. Next stop, Colorado Springs.
I want to thank Christian and Alex for holding the fort down while we’ve traveled. Between the family hauler blowing its engine, being forced to rent a dadgum minivan (apologies to all that own one…I’m sure you were cool at one point in your life) and altitude sickness, this trip will go down as the most infamous and that always makes for a good story.
Well, I’d rather Charlie had hit Wander Franco in the back foot. Both balls drilled right off the bat
Seems like a pretty incredible pitcher’s duel.
Well, we now know that we are definitely the better team. Hard to argue, too; they played us and they lost, right? Simple enough.
Demz da rules
Great win…felt playoff like.
Big swing by Pache to give the Phils the lead in the 9th against the Marlins.
Up 9 1/2 on Miami and 11 on Philly
Well pitched game by both sides. Tyler Glasnow struck out 4 men in an inning because Ozuna reached on a wild pitch.
The difference was that their homer was a solo shot and ours was with 1 man on.
More seriously than my last comment, looks like defense was kinda the difference maker? we snuffed a rally with a CS, and without the error our HR is only one run.
Little things win games between good teams. Just a corollary of crapshoot theory.
I would have to say that this game belonged to Sean Murphy. Two caught stealings that did serious damage to Tampa scoring opportunities and the homerun. Murphy was the dominating force.
Recapped