Seeking Third Straight Victory, Braves Lean On Folty
Folty #Folty
While baseball fans everywhere hold their breath about the Miami Marlins’ emerging COVID scare, there is still baseball to be played elsewhere (at least for now). Coming off an opening series victory against the Mets, the 2-1 Braves will head to Florida to face the 2-1 Rays.
After some understandable offensive woes against Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz, the Braves’ offense tallied 14 runs against the Mets last night. Despite the slow start, the inconsistent bats appear to be rounding into form. With last night’s outburst behind them, the rest of the offense appears capable of carrying the team until the remaining holdouts get their timing right. If this entire lineup gets synced up – looking at you, Ronald – look out.
All eyes will be on the Tropicana Field radar gun as Mike Foltynewicz gets the nod for the Braves tonight. As this is still the first turn through Atlanta’s rotation, this will obviously be his first start of the year. His issues with consistency are well-documented, and his most recent exhibition performance against the Marlins didn’t do much to instill confidence in him. We never know exactly which Folty will show up, but be that as it may, It is easy to forget that Folty was arguably the Braves’ best pitcher after coming back from AAA last August, and spun a gem in Game 2 of the 2019 NLDS.
We won’t talk about Game 5.
Ever.
This will be Folty’s second career start against the Rays, with the first being an ugly outing against them in 2015.
The Rays took care of business against the Blue Jays this weekend, taking two out of three at home. They will send Tyler Glasnow, a very tall human, to the mound. Glasnow went 6-1 in 2019, with a 1.78 ERA | 2.21 FIP. After acquiring him in the infamous Chris Archer deal, the Rays were able to unlock something in Glasnow, curbing his control issues and getting his career on its current path. This will be his second career start against the Braves, with the first coming in 2017.
If the season doesn’t get shut down – we’re all keeping our fingers crossed – this could be a World Series preview. So enjoy!
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Monday, July 27, 6:40 p.m. ET
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
TV: Fox Sports Southeast
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, WNNX 100.5, Braves Radio Network