Ray Kerr will make his second career start as the Braves give the rest of their rotation an extra day of rest.
The Atlanta Braves will take on the Washington Nationals again Thursday night and will be looking to salvage a split in the four-game series. Atlanta suffered a 7-2 loss Wednesday in Spencer Schwellenbach’s major league debut. They have been outscored 15-8 over the first three games of the series.
Following Wednesday’s game, the Braves announced that Ray Kerr would start Thursday’s finale rather than Reynaldo López. Kerr, who last pitched on May 24 in Pittsburgh, was available out of the bullpen Wednesday if Schwellenbach exited early. He wasn’t needed so the team is going to take the opportunity to give the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest.
Kerr made his first career start against the Pirates where he allowed five runs and struck out six in four innings. He made four relief appearances prior to that start where he allowed three runs in 9 1⁄3 innings. Washington is hitting .231 with an 81 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers this season. Atlanta’s only win in the series came Tuesday when Max Fried tossed eight scoreless innings.
The Nationals will counter with right-hander Trevor Williams who has a 2.29 ERA and a 2.78 FIP over his first 10 starts of the season. Williams has essentially been a five and dive starter for the nationals this season, but has been successful. He tied a season-high with eight strikeouts and allowed one urn over five innings in his last start against the Mariners.
The Braves enter Thursday’s game ranked 22nd in the majors with a 23.5% strikeout rate. For comparison, Atlanta struck out just 20.6% of the time last season which was the fifth best mark in the league. Strikeouts have been a major issue in this series as the Braves have fanned 35 times over the first three games. Austin Riley is 1-for-12 with six strikeouts since returning to the lineup after missing two weeks with soreness in his left side. Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall and Jarred Kelenic have all struck out five times over the first three games of the series.
First pitch Thursday night is set for 7:20 p.m. ET at Truist Park and can be seen on Bally Sports South.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, May 30, 7:20 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: Bally Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan