MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (69-37) at Chicago Cubs (56-53)

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

Day Games
Atlanta is set to play three straight day games against Chicago this weekend, with all three games slated for a 1:20 p.m. start locally. The Braves are 25-11 (.694) in day games this season, the best record in baseball, including wins in four straight. Last season, Atlanta played to a 101-61 (.623) record overall, tied for the third-best record in baseball. However, the Braves went just 24-27 (.471) in day games, the 19thbest record in the majors. 1B Matt Olson has a majors-most 40 RBI in day games this season, and his 15 home runs in the daylight are most in the N.L.

TODAY’S GAME: The Braves and Cubs today open a three-game weekend series in what is the first of six scheduled meetings between the clubs this season… Chicago is slated to visit Atlanta during the Braves’ final homestand of the season, September 26-28.

• Atlanta and Chicago split six games last season, with each team winning two-of-three in their home park.
• Atlanta has not lost the season series with Chicago since 2017, when they dropped six-of-seven games with the Cubs…The clubs split six games in 2018 and last season, and Atlanta won five-of-seven in both 2019 and 2021…The Braves are 16-10 (615) against the Cubs in that span.
• Atlanta dropped two-of-three here at Wrigley Field last season, just the fourth series the club has lost here since 2009…The Braves are 22-21 (.512) here since that date, going 8-5-1 in series play.
• RHP Kyle Hendricks is 1-4 with a 6.81 ERA (27 ER/35.2 IP) in eight career games, seven starts, against Atlanta…The 33-year-old righty has lost four consecutive starts against the Braves and allowed 27 total runs in those turns, including an eight-hit, six-run start over 4.1 innings last season… Hendricks made his lone career relief appearance against Atlanta, pitching 2.0 innings in July 2016.

WIN: Atlanta scored 12 runs on 12 hits in a win, 12-5, over the Angels on Wednesday afternoon…The Braves improved to 9-1 in rubber games this season.

• The Braves scored at least 10 runs for the third time in their last six games on Wednesday, and for the 15th time this season…Atlanta is 13-2 (.867) when scoring double-digit runs this year.
• Six of Atlanta’s 12 hits on the game went for extra bases, and the Braves’ 397 extra-base hits on the season are tied for most in the majors…Atlanta is tied with Texas, despite playing three fewer games than the Rangers.
• Ozzie Albies picked up a pair of hits (double, triple) and RBI, giving him 76 RBI for the year… Since RBI became official in 1920, only one other primary middle-infielder in franchise history has reached 75 RBI in fewer games…Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornby did so in the 104th game of the 1928 season for the Boston Braves.

TEN YEARS: C Travis d’Arnaud today officially celebrates 10.000 years of major league service time…D’Arnaud made his major league debut on August 17, 2013 as a 24-year-old with the Mets.

• D’Arnaud is a career .252/.313/.430 hitter over 754 career games, and has appeared with the Mets (2013-’19), Dodgers (’19), Rays (’19) and Braves (2020-present).
• He was named the N.L. Silver Slugger winner at catcher in 2020, and earned his first All-Star selection last season…He caught every inning of the 2021 postseason in Atlanta’s run to the World Series championship.

MAX FRIED: LH Max Fried today is set to start for Atlanta, his first outing for the Braves since May 5 vs. Baltimore…Fried has missed the last 73 games with a
strained left forearm.

• Fried is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA (6 ER/26.0 IP) in five starts this season, and five of the six earned runs he allowed came in his final start before going on the injured list.
• In four rehabilitation starts between High-A Rome and Triple-A Gwinnett, he went 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA (5 ER/12.0 IP)…In his final such start, July 29, he threw 79 pitches in 4.1 innings.
• A seven-year Major League veteran, all with Atlanta, Fried is 56-26 with a 3.05 ERA (223 ER/658.1 IP) in 130 career games, including 113 starts…He went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA (51 ER/185.1 IP) in 30 starts last season, and finished second in N.L. Cy Young voting.
• Since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, Fried’s 54 wins are tied for the most by a left-hander in the majors (also Clayton Kershaw), and trail just Gerrit Cole (66) for the most in baseball.
• Fried has never lost to the Cubs, going a perfect 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA (4 ER/23.0 IP) in four starts… He earned the first win of his career here at Wrigley Field, pitching 5.0 one-run innings in his first career start on September 3, 2017.

BACK-TO-BACK: Austin Riley and Matt Olson hit back-to-back home runs in Wednesday’s fourth inning, Atlanta’s third pair of consecutive homers on the homestand and its 13th set in total this season.

• Atlanta has hit back-to-back home runs in back-to-back games, as Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II did so on Tuesday night.
• The Braves’ 13 pairs of back-to-back home runs are most in the majors, four more than any other club… The Angels ranks second with nine.
• Dating to the start of the 2019 season, no club in baseball has gone back-to-back more often than Atlanta…The Braves have 53 sets of consecutive homers in that span, three more than any other team (Los Angeles-NL, 49).
• Riley and Olson have hit back-to-back home runs six times this season, most by a set of teammates in baseball this year and a new franchise record for the most by Braves teammates within a single season… The previous high of five was done by Chipper Jones and Bret Boone in 1999…No pairing has hit at least seven back-to-back home runs in a single season since San Francisco’s Barry Bonds and Rich Aurilia in 2001…Research courtesy Elias.

MICHAEL HARRIS II: Went 3-for-4 on Wednesday afternoon and has hit safely in 15 of 17 games since the All-Star break, including six multi-hit efforts.

• His .400 batting average (22-for-55) since the break is the third-highest in baseball, trailing BOS’s Triston Casas (.420) and LAD’s Freddie Freeman (.413).

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #54 Max Fried LHP
2023 Record: 2-1, 2.08 ERA • 2022 Record: 14-7, 2.48 ERA
vs. RHB: .239 (17-71), 1 HR • vs. LHB: .208 (5-24), 1 HR
Home: 0-1, 3.55 ERA (5/12.2) • Away: 2-0, 0.68 ERA (1/13.1)

Today’s Game

• Set to make his first start since being activated from the 60-day injured list.
• Landed on the 60-day IL on May 9 (retro May 6) with a strained left forearm.
• He missed 70 games and it will be 90 days between starts.
• Fried went 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA with 13 strikeouts in four rehabilitation appearances.
• Made three starts with Triple-A Gwinnett and one with High-A Rome.
• Became just the fifth pitcher since 1901 to only allow one run through March and April with at least four games started.
• Joined Hall-of-Famer Walter Johnson, Roger Clemens, Fernando Valenzuela and Minnesota’s Pablo López as the only other pitchers to do so (since 1901).
• Went 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs, five earned, two walks and seven strikeouts in his last start on May 5 against Baltimore.
• His 54 wins since the beginning of the 2019 season are tied for the most in the National League, and tied most by any left-hander in baseball.
• Only one pitcher, the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, has more wins than Fried since the start of 2019…Cole has 61 wins.
• Additionally, the Braves have 73 wins in games started by Fried since the beginning of 2019, the most such wins by a pitcher in the National League…Only Cole and José Berríos have more, whose teams have won 87 and 78 of their starts, have more in the majors.
• Teammate Charlie Morton’s teams also have 73 wins during that span.

2023 Recap

• Fried picked off his first baserunner of the season as he caught OF Jake Myers attempting to steal second base in the top of the third inning on April 17.
• Since the beginning of the 2017 season, Fried’s 24 pickoffs are the most in baseball.
• Fried was placed on the 15-day injured list with a strained left hamstring on March 30 and activated from the IL on April 17.
• Made his third career Opening Day start after he also started the opener in each of the last two seasons.
• Fried was the first Braves lefty to make consecutive Opening Day starts since Hall-of-Famer Warren Spahn started six straight, 1957-1962.
• Prior to Fried, the last Braves lefty to start Opening Day was Tom Glavine in 2002.

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

Cubs vs. Braves
The Cubs and Braves play the first three games of their six-game season series this weekend … following this three-game set, the clubs will play three games in Atlanta, Sept. 26-28 … Chicago and Atlanta split the 2022 season-series, 3-3, with both teams going 2-1 at home … the Cubs have not won a season series vs. Atlanta since 2017, when they went 6-1.

COMING IN HOT!: The Chicago Cubs today take on the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the three-game weekend series … Atlanta (31-13) and Chicago (30-17) sport the majors’ two best records since June 9 … Chicago yesterday wrapped up its fifth-straight series win dating to July 17-19 vs. Washington, defeating Cincinnati, 5-3, to take the four-game set, 3-1 … five players drove in a run, while Jameson Taillon (2 ER/5.0 IP) earned his fourth win in his last five starts … Adbert Alzolay (0 ER/1.1 IP) recorded his third save of the season of at least four outs.

The Cubs are 13-3 in their last 16 games since July 18 … following play on July 20, the Cubs sat 7.0-games out of a wild-card spot and 8.5-games back of the division lead … the club enters today 2.0-games out of a wild card spot and 2.5-games back of division-leading Milwaukee.

The Cubs are 3-1 on this seven-game homestand against the Cincinnai Reds (3-1) and the Atlanta Braves (3 games beginning today).

Dating to June 9, the Cubs have scored 296 runs, the most in the major leagues, and their .273 batting average (445-for-1,630) ranks second in the majors.

Today marks the 11th (8-2) of 16-straight gamedays through August 9.

The Cubs (+79) are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (Pittsburgh, -84; St. Louis, -26; Cincinnati, -19; Milwaukee, -2).

SINCE JUNE 9…: The Cubs, at 56-53, are 30-17 since June 9 when the team was a season-low 10-games below .500 at 26-36 following a loss at the Angels June 8.

Starting June 9, the Cubs’ 30-17 record (.638 winning percentage) is the second-best in the majors, trailing today’s opponent, Atlanta (31-13/.705).

In 47 games since June 9, the Cubs have hit .273, scored 296 runs … the previous time Chicago scored at least 296 runs in a 47-game stretch was from June 6-July 31, 1937 (296 runs).

SINCE THE BREAK…: Entering today, in 20 games since the All-Star break, Chicago has scored 150 runs, the most in the majors, leading the second-place Dodgers by 41 runs (109) … Stats Perform noted that the Cubs’ 150 runs in the first 20 games after the break is tied for the second-most since the All-Star break first took place in 1933, trailing the California Angels (161 in 1995).

The Cubs’ .305 team average (215-for-704) since the break is the highest in the majors by 30 points (Dodgers – .275), while the club’s .912 OPS during that span also leads the majors by 38 points (Atlanta – .874).

Chicago’s 14-6 record (.700 winning percentage) since the break is the best in the major leagues.

LOOK BACK AT THE SERIES THAT WAS: The Cubs totaled 46 runs during the recent four-game series against Cincinnati, the most by the club in a single series since a three-game series vs. Pittsburgh, Sept. 13-15, 2019 (47 runs) … Ed Hartig notes that the last time the Cubs scored 46 runs in a four-game series was June 27-29, 1961 vs. Cincinnati.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Cubs scored 36 runs in two games (20 runs Tuesday, 16 runs Wednesday), their most in a two-game span since June 29-30, 1897 (43 runs) … as a part of the 36 runs, Chicago hit 12 home runs during the two games, the most in back-to-back games in franchise history.

Hartig pointed out that the Cubs scored at least 16 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 12-13, 1894. Per ESPN, the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday became the first team in MLB history with at least 10 extra-base hits and five homers in consecutive games.

NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN: Dansby Swanson today plays his first game against his former team, the Atlanta Braves … Swanson spent the 2015-22 seasons in the Braves organization, which included his major league debut in 2016 and a World Series championship in 2021.

In 827 games across parts of seven seasons with Atlanta, Swanson hit .255 (775-for-3,043) with 161 doubles, 13 triples, 102 home runs and 411 RBI … he was named an All-Star and a Gold Glove award winner in 2022 with the club.

Swanson in 12 games since being activated from the IL July 22, Swanson is batting .318 (14-for-44) with two doubles, six home runs, 16 RBI, a .392 OBP and a 1.165 OPS … Swanson’s 15 RBI since July 22 are the most in the majors.

GOTTA BE BRAVE: Since going 15-5 from 2015-17, the Cubs are 10-16 vs. Atlanta since 2018 … from 2015-17, the Cubs batted .262 (180-for-686), averaging 5.7 runs per game and pitched to a 2.88 ERA (58 ER/181.0 IP) vs. Atlanta … since 2018, Chicago is hitting .238 (202-for-850) with 4.2 runs per game and a 4.98 ERA (125 ER/226.0 IP) team ERA.

YOU BETTER BELLI-EVE IT: Cody Bellinger, July’s N.L. Player of the Month, this season is batting .315 (94-for-298) with 16 doubles, one triple, 16 homers, 51 RBI and 15 stolen bases … entering play today, Bellinger and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. are the only two major leaguers to have at least a .315 average, 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases.

In 40 games since being reinstated from the injured list on June 15 (left knee contusion), Bellinger is hitting .357 (55-for-154) with seven doubles, nine homers, 31 RBI, a .394 OBP and a .578 slugging percentage.

THE CANDY MAN CAN: Jeimer Candelario has hit safely in each of his first three games since Monday’s trade, going 9-for-12 (.750) with three doubles and six runs scored. © Per ESPN, Candelario became the first player in the major leagues since at least 1900 to have at least eight hits in the first two games (8-for-9/.889) with a team after playing for a different organization earlier in the season.

Candelario became the first Cub since Frank Schwindel (Sept. 3-5, 2021) to record at least nine hits in a three-game span.

Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-5, 3.49)
Last Time Out
Kyle suffered his fifth loss of the season July 30 at St. Louis despite tossing 7.0-plus innings for the third time this year … has allowed three runs or fewer in three-straight starts since July 19 following back-to-back starts in which he allowed four or more … made his eighth quality start in 13 outings this season … has walked a batter in back-to-back starts for the second time in 2023 (also, May 25 -30) … has walked one or fewer in seven-straight starts (3 walks in 42.2 IP).

2023 Splits and Season Notes
Kyle will make his 14th start of the 2023 campaign, his seventh at Wrigley Field … is 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA (23 ER/62.0 IP) and seven quality starts in his last 10 outings dating to June 10 … has a 1-4 record and a 6.81 ERA (27 ER/35.2 IP) across eight career games (seven starts) against the Braves … made the only relief appearance of his career against Atlanta July 7, 2016, tossing 2.0 hitless innings … has held opponents to a .143 average (21-for-147) with 35 strikeouts against his changeup.

July 25, made his 12th career start vs. the White Sox, the second-most by a Cubs pitcher trailing Carlos Zambrano (13).

Walked one batter in five starts from June 29-July 19 (29.1 IP), his fewest in a five-game span in his career.

Started July 9 at New York (A.L.) and July 14 vs. Boston, becoming the first Cubs pitcher since Carlos Zambrano (July 8-13, 2007) to start back-to-back team games.

Posted a 1.95 ERA (7 ER/32.1 IP) in five starts from June 10-July 4, allowing three runs or fewer in all five outings … his 1.95 ERA was the fourth-lowest in the majors during that span (min. 5 GS).

June 10 in San Francisco, carried a no-hit bid into the eighth … the 7.2 inning nohit bid was the second-longest of his career (Sept. 12, 2016 at St. Louis, 8.0 IP).

Became the 12th pitcher in Cubs history to pitch for the Cubs in at least 10 season (last Kerry Wood).

Made his season debut May 25 vs. Mets (3 ER/4.1 IP), his first major league start since July 5, 2022.

Made five rehab starts with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 5.75 ERA (13 ER/20.1 IP) … allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three rehab starts, posting a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP) during those outings.

Began the season on the 15-day injured list, as he rehabbed from a capsular tear in his right shoulder that he suffered in July 2022.