MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (64-35) at Boston Red Sox (54-47)

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ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Red Sox tonight conclude a two-game series with the fourth and final game between the clubs this season…Atlanta and Boston played a pair of games at Truist Park in Atlanta, May 9-10.

  • Boston beat Atlanta, 7-1, in the opener last night and the Red Sox have won two of the three games between the clubs this season.
  • The Braves and Red Sox have met in each of the last three seasons, with Atlanta going 8-6 against Boston in 14 total games from 2020-2022…In four games last year, Atlanta went 3-1.
  • Atlanta swept both games here at Fenway Park last season, and has lost just two games here over the last three seasons following last night’s defeat… The Braves are 6-2 here since the start of the 2020 season, and are 25-19 (.568) here all-time… Atlanta’s .568 winning percentage here is the best of any National League team.
  • Since the advent of Interleague Play in 1997, Atlanta has played Boston far more than any other American League team…The two clubs tonight will play for the 90th time…For reference, the Braves have not played any other A.L. team more than 64 times (Toronto), and have played Cleveland and Los Angeles just 18 times.
  • RH Spencer Strider has never faced the Red Sox, and has pitched against just one member of Boston’s current roster…Justin Turner is 0-for-3 with a strikeout against him…The 6-foot-0, 195- pound right-hander is 11-3 with a 3.78 ERA (49 ER/116.2 IP) through 20 turns for Atlanta this season.
  • RH Brayan Bello is set to make his second career start against Atlanta and his second of the season… The 6-foot-1, 195-pound native of Samana, DR, faced the Braves on May 10 at Truist Park and pitched 6.0 two-run innings to earn the win… Through 16 starts for the Red Sox this season, Bello is 7-6 with a 3.60 ERA (36 ER/90.0 IP) and 78 strikeouts.

LOSS: Boston scored seven unanswered runs to beat Atlanta, 7-1, last night and take the opening game of the series…The start of the game was delayed by one hour and 40 minutes due to rain. • The Braves failed to hit a home run last night, and fell to just 2-11 (.154) when doing so…Atlanta’s 13 games without a home run are easily the fewest in baseball, however, the Braves’ .154 winning percentage without a homer is also the lowest in the majors (tied with the Yankees: 4-22, .154).

  • Atlanta turned a triple play in yesterday’s third inning, the first for the Braves defensively since 2004…It was the first triple play turned in baseball this season, and just the second 8-3-5 triple play in baseball history…The 1884 Boston Beaneaters turned such a triple play against the Providence Grays.

STRIDER STRIKEOUTS: Spencer Strider enters tonight’s start with 189 strikeouts on the season, most in the majors…No Atlanta pitcher has led the majors in strikeouts since John Smoltz in 1996 (276).

  • Through 20 starts and 116.2 innings, he is on pace to fan 309 batters on the season…No pitcher has reached the 300-strikeout threshold since Justin Verlander in 2019…Smoltz’s 276 strikeouts in 1996 stand as the modern-era franchise record.
  • Strider fanned 13 batters in his last start, July 20 vs. Arizona, and has struck out at least 10 in each of his last three turns…He is just the second player in
    franchise history with at least 10 strikeouts in three straight starts, joining Smoltz in that 1996 season… No player has done so for the club in four straight.
  • Just one player in baseball – SD’s Blake Snell – has four straight double-digit strikeout starts this season.
  • Since the date of his first major league start, May 30, 2022, he has 14 double-digit strikeout performances…That total is the most such games in the majors.
  • Strider has induced 433 swings-and-misses this season, easily the most in baseball and 92 more than any other pitcher…SEA’s Luis Castillo ranks second with 341…Strider generates a swing-and-miss on 21.7% of his offerings.

FIRST INNING: Atlanta scored its only run of the game in last night’s first inning, and the Braves’ 101 first-inning runs this season are by far the most in baseball… The Dodgers rank second with 79 runs in the inning.

  • The club is on pace to score 165 first-inning runs this season and shatter its franchise record…The 1999 Braves scored 127 runs in the first frame to establish the mark.
  • If that 165-run pace is maintained, the Braves would break the first-inning run record for both the National League and Major League Baseball… The 2000 St. Louis Cardinals scored 147 runs in the first inning to set the N.L. record, while the 1950 Boston Red Sox set the MLB record with 160 opening-frame runs.
  • The Braves have scored 101 of their 551 total runs in the first inning (18%).

JOE JIMÉNEZ & THE BULLPEN: Jiménez pitched 1.0 perfect inning of relief last night and retired all three batters via strikeout…In 36 appearances this season, he has pitched to a 2.78 ERA (11 ER/35.2 IP) and fanned 44.

  • In his last 18 games dating to May 27, he has allowed just two earned runs and struck out 22 over 19.0 innings (0.95 ERA).
  • Atlanta’s bullpen as a whole leads the National League with a 3.53 ERA (141 ER/359.1 IP), and trails just Baltimore in all of baseball with a 3.43 FIP on the season.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #99 Spencer Strider RHP
2023 Record: 11-3, 3.78 ERA • 2022 Record: 11-5, 2.67 ERA
vs. RHB: .211 (46-218), 10 HR • vs. LHB: .212 (46-for-217), 6 HR
Home: 4-2, 4.45 ERA (32/64.2) • Away: 7-1, 2.94 ERA (17/52.0)

Tonight’s Game

  • Strider is set to make his 21st start this year and first of his career against Boston.
  • Leads the majors with 189 strikeouts.
  • Strider’s 354 strikeouts through his first 40 career starts are the most by any pitcher since the mound was set to it’s current distance in 1893, credit ESPN Stats.
  • Toronto’s Kevin Gausman ranks second with 162.
  • His 14 games with at least 10 strikeouts are the second most in MLB history (1901) through a player’s first 40 starts; trails only Dwight Gooden (17).
  • Has struckout at least nine in six consecutive starts, the longest streak in the majors this season.
  • Strider broke his own record for longest such streak in the majors this season.
  • Strider’s two seperate five and six-game streaks of at least nine strikeouts are the longest in baseball this year.
  • Tied his season-high in strikeouts with 13 against Arizona while allowing four hits, four runs, and two homers in 6.0 innings pitched in his last start.
  • It was his eighth double-digit strikeout effort this season; only Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz (12) has more in a single season in franchise history.
  • Strider and Smoltz are the only pitchers in Braves franchise history strikeout at least 10 hitters in three consecutive outings.
  • Strider’s 11 wins are tied for the most in the majors.
  • Joined Denny Neagle and Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux as the only Atlanta-franchise pitchers to have at least 11 wins and two losses or less before the
    All-Star break.
  • Leads all qualified starters with a rate of 14.58 strikeouts per nine innings this season.
  • His swing and miss rate of 40.4% is the highest in the majors (among QS).
  • Strider’s 52.4% rate of pitches in the zone is the sixth highest in the National League among qualifiers.

2023 Recap

  • Became the first Braves pitcher to enter the All-Star break leading the National League in Strikeouts with 166 since Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz in 1996.
  • Strider passed Smoltz (149) for the most strikeouts before the All-Star break.
  • Strider joined Cy Young award winner, Dwight Gooden as the only pitchers in the modern era to reach 300 strikeouts in their first 35 career starts.
  • Through the 35 starts, Gooden recorded 302 strikeouts in 248.0 innings pitched while Strider logged 301 punchouts in 192.0 frames.
  • His 136 punchouts are the mosth in Braves franchise history through a pitcher’s first 15 games to start a season…HOF’er John Smoltz struck out 125 in 1996.
  • Struckout Nick Castellanos in the fourth inning on May 28 to become the fastest starting pitcher, by innings pitched (61.0), to reach 100 strikeouts in a season, since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893…Strider bested his own franchise record, set last season in 64.2 innings.
  • Struckout J.T. Realmuto to reach 300 on his career.
  • Strider became the 13th player in major league history to record at least 300 strikeouts in 44 career appearances or less and first since Shane Bieber in 2018.
  • Of the other 12 pitchers, Strider is the only one to have more than two relief appearances in his first 44 outings.
  • Snapped a streak of 12 consecutive games with at least eight strikeouts on May 17.
  • Tied Hall-of-Famers Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson for the seventh longest such streak in the live ball era.
  • Only Hall-of-Famers Ryan, Johnson, Pedro Martínez and active pitchers Corey Kluber and Shane Bieber have longer streaks.
  • Struck out 12 hitters on May 12 at Toronto, giving Strider nine games of at least 10 strikeouts; the most through a player’s first 41 appearances in franchise history(1901).
  • The next closest were Brandon Beachy, Tommy Hanson, and Julio Teheran with three each in their first 41 outings.
  • Tied with Noah Syndergaard, Kerry Wood, and Al Downing for seventh most in MLB history (dating to 1901) through a player’s first 41 games.
  • Recorded a streak of nine consecutive games with at least nine strikeouts between 9/1/22-5/1/23; it is tied for third-longest such streak in the modern era (1900).
  • Passed Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz for the longest streak in franchise history.
  • Carried a perfect game into the seventh inning on April 24against Miami until he lost his bid on a Matt Olson error.

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have won 3 straight games…They own MLB’s best record since 6/30 (14-5) and the AL’s best since 6/14 (21-12). They are a season-high-tying 7 games above .500 for the 3rd time this season (51-44 on 7/17; 21-14 on 5/6). At 54-47 (.535), Boston is tied with PHI for MLB’s 12th-best record…They’re 1.5 games back from the AL’s 3rd wild card position.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Red Sox took the series opener vs. the Braves last night, 7-1…They allowed 1 or 0 runs for the 11th time this year (previous: 7/17 at OAK; 0 R). Boston improved to 19-14 in series openers…The Sox are 13-4-1 in series when they win Game 1. All 9 Red Sox batters recorded hits, the 6th time this year with 9+ batters recording a hit (previous: 6/16 vs. NYY).

HOME COOKING: The Red Sox have won 8 of their last 9 home games, outscoring opponents 60-30 in that span. In 10 home games during July, the Sox are batting .324 with an .886 OPS (33 XBH: 19 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR). At home, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.293) and OBP (.360)…They also rank 3rd in runs scored per game (5.7), OPS (.829) and SLG (.469).

SOX & BRAVES: The Red Sox and Braves split their previous 2-game series from 5/9-10 at Truist Park…The Sox are 48-41 vs. ATL all time and 6-5 since the start of 2021…At Fenway Park, however, BOS is 2-6 since the start of 2020. The Red Sox are an MLB-best 304-215 (.586) all-time in Interleague play…They’re in a stretch of 8 straight games against NL teams (3 vs. NYM, 2 vs. ATL, 3 at SF). The Sox are 6-5-1 in Interleague series this year, including 5-0-1 on the road and 1-5-0 at home…They are 16-20 in games vs. NL clubs (11-6 road, 5-14 home).

ON THE MEND: Trevor Story, Reese McGuire, and Corey Kluber are on rehab assignments with Triple-A Worcester… Story and Kluber were previously with Double-A Portland. Worcester is scheduled to play a doubleheader today vs. Rochester beginning at 12:15 p.m.

SERIES BUSINESS: With a win tonight, the Red Sox would improve to 19-12-2 in series play, including 11-6-0 at home…They’d climb to 6-1-0 in their last 7 series. The Sox have won 4 of their last 5 home series, including each of their 3 during July.

SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox lead MLB in doubles (225)… They rank 2nd in the AL in AVG (.266), OBP (.334), and XBH (351) and 3rd in runs scored per game (5.1). In July, the Sox lead MLB in AVG (.301), SLG (.502), and OPS (.862), and rank 2nd in OBP (.360). The Sox have hit 22 HR in their last 12 games, since 7/8, T-2nd most in MLB over that span behind SD (25).

RED SOX OFFENSE BY DATE
Dates Record AVG OPS Runs/G
3/30-5/6 21-14 .273 .800 5.9
5/7-6/13 12-21 .243 .704 3.8
6/14-pres. 21-12 .281 .802 5.4

HIGH FIVE: The Sox have scored 5+ runs in 13 of their last 19 games (114 runs, 6.0 runs/game)…They are 44-7 (.863) when scoring 5+ runs, the best record in the AL and 3rd-best in MLB. BOS has recorded 10+ hits in 45 games, 2nd most in MLB (TEX-51)…The Sox are 37-8 (.822) in those games. The Sox have recorded 10+ hits in 3 straight games and in 13 of their last 18…They’ve won 10 straight games when recording 10+ hits, beginning 7/5 vs. TEX.

PICK YOUR POISON: Since 6/30, Red Sox players own 6 of the AL’s top 15 batting averages (min. 50 PA), including Masataka Yoshida (1st, .417) and Jarren Duran (3rd, 393). Since the All-Star Break, Triston Casas ranks T-2nd in MLB with 5 HR (1st: ATL’s Austin Riley-6). The Sox have 4 players with 30+ multi-hit games, most in MLB (Yoshida-39, Turner-32, Devers-31 Verdugo-30)…No other team has more than 2.

PITCHING IN: The Red Sox ranked 27th in MLB with a 5.09 ERA at the end of play on 5/15, but they lead the AL and rank 4th in the majors with a 3.73 ERA since then… Overall, the Sox rank 17th in the majors in ERA (4.30). During that stretch that began 5/16, the Red Sox’ ERA leaders are Chris Martin (1.33), Brennan Bernardino (1.64), Chris Murphy (1.80) and Richard Bleier (1.80).

WHAT A RELIEF: Boston’s ranks 3rd in the AL and 4th in MLB with a 3.71 relief ERA (168 ER/407.2 IP)…They ranked 14th in the AL and 26th in MLB last season with a 4.59 mark. In their last 7 games, since 7/17, Red Sox relievers have posted a 1.10 ERA with 53 SO (5 ER/41.0 IP).

LOCK IT DOWN: The Red Sox own MLB’s best record when leading after 6 innings (41-2, .953)…In 2022, they ranked 18th in MLB when leading after 6 (63-10, .863). 7 pitchers have earned a save for Boston, tied for 2nd most in the AL behind NYY (8)…Kenley Jansen ranks 6th in the AL with 21 saves.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING: Chris Martin has made 16 straight scoreless appearances (13.2 IP), the longest active streak in the AL by appearances and 2nd longest by innings (DET’s Lorenzen-18.2 IP)…Nick Pivetta’s 12.0 IP scoreless streak is tied for the 4th longest active in the AL by innings. Since making his 1st relief appearance of 2023 on 5/21, Pivetta leads the majors (min. 30.0 IP) in opponent AVG (.128) and WHIP (0.80)…In that time, he leads the AL in strikeout rate (36.9%) and ranks 2nd in ERA (1.98).

RUNNIN’ RED SOX: The Red Sox are lead the AL with 23 steals in July (23-for-26)…Overall, the Sox rank 2nd in the AL and 6th in the majors in stolen base % (83.3, 75-for-90). The Sox’ top 3 leaders in steals are a combined 36- for-38 (94.7%): Jarren Duran (21-for-22), Masataka Yoshida (8-for-8), and Rob Refsnyder (7-for-8).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: 66 BRAYAN BELLO – RHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 7-6 3.60 16 16 90.0 36 13 24 78 1.22 .248
CAREER 9-14 4.03 29 27 147.1 66 14 51 133 1.44 .275

Was reinstated from the Paternity List prior to last night’s game. Allowed a career-high 6 runs over 4.0 IP in his last start last Wednesday at OAK (5 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR). Is 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA, .218 opponent AVG, and 1.01 WHIP in his last 7 starts (44.2 IP, 11 R, 36-for-165, 9 BB, 32 SO, 2 HB). In his MLB career, opponents are 24-for-144 (.166) with 1 HR against his changeup (15-for-87 with 35 SO in 2023). Allowed 2 runs over 6.0 IP in his last start vs. ATL on 5/10 (6 H, BB, 5 SO, HR). Has tossed 6.0+ innings in 7 of his last 8 starts (7.0+ in 4 of his last 5). Owns a 3.14 ERA (17 ER/48.2 IP) in 9 starts at Fenway Park this season.