Atlanta Braves news and notes from Thursday
After Thursday’s day game in Pittsburgh, the Atlanta Braves are off to New York to face the still struggling New York Mets. The Braves own a 72-41 record with a 9.5 game division lead. The Mets, however, sit below .500 with a 52-62 record and are 20.5 games out of first place.
The series begins tonight at 7:20 ET with Charlie Morton making his 23rd start of the year. Morton has struggled tremendously in his last four starts, but looks to gain some ground tonight against Mets starter Tylor Megill.
A doubleheader is set for Saturday. Game one will get underway at 1:10 ET to make up for a postponement back in April. Game two is set for 7:15 ET. Spencer Strider’s spot will be due in the rotation, but it has not been announced which game he will start.
The series wraps up on Sunday night at 7:10 ET with Yonny Chirinos on the bump against Mets starter Kodai Senga.
More Braves News:
The pitching staff took another blow as Bryce Elder made an underwhelming start in Thursday’s 7-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Wednesday marked a huge day for Jared Shuster down on the farm. He tossed seven scoreless innings to contribute to a win for the Gwinnett Stripers. More in the minor league recap.
The Daily Hammer Podcast recaps Wednesday’s win in Pittsburgh.
MLB News:
The Los Angeles Dodgers have activated starter Clayton Kershaw from the injured list. Kersh was placed on the IL July 3, but was finally able to take the mound Thursday in LA, where he tossed five innings of one-run baseball.
Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tucupita Marcano underwent successful ACL surgery on August 9 and is expected to return in 9-12 months.