After a horrendous outing (an understatement) in Game 1, the Braves look to rebound against a Detroit Tigers team that is 4-6 in their last ten but riding a 3-game win streak coming into the matchup tonight. The Braves, however, are on a 3-game losing slump and look to regain some momentum especially after last night’s defeat.

Pitching Matchup

Mike Soroka RHP (1.07 ERA)

Mike is 5-1 on the year and has been a gem to watch every five days. The 21-year-old has hit his marks all season and holds batters to an average of .167 when they are bold enough to stand in the batter’s box. A rookie of the year hopeful – he has yet to have a start where he has allowed more than one earned run this season. Expectations are high for the 6’5” righty, but so far, he has exceeded them and then some. Now, the Braves turn to him hoping he can play the Ace’s role of a “stopper” to end Atlanta’s three-game skid.

Daniel Norris LHP (4.18 ERA)

Daniel Norris was hurt for most of his 2018 campaign where he recorded 0 wins and 5 losses, putting up an ERA of 5.68. He has bounced back somewhat this year and leans heavily on his fastball. In 2019, Norris has thrown his 4-seam 47.56% of the time. He loves throwing this pitch over the plate even though his velocity is very average (90.91 mph). If Norris misses his spots with these fastballs, it could look a lot like batting practice for a slumping Braves lineup.

Lineups

Key Players 

Austin Riley

I honestly don’t think Austin is talked about enough, and he’s talked about a lot. This kid is superhuman (If he’s even human at all. I believe he is an angel sent to us by the baseball gods to repay us for being Atlanta sports fans). He has 7 HRs, 20 RBIs and an OPS of 1.192. The best part about this matchup is that 6 of his 7 HRs have come on fastball pitches (4 seam, 2 seam, cutter, sinker). Norris loves his 4 seam, and Austin loves to hit 4 seams. This is like when an easily movable object meets an unstoppable force.

Niko Goodrum

Niko is only batting .230 on the season but was a significant factor for the Tigers last night. He tore up Folty just hours ago, going 5 for 5 with two homers and 3 RBIs. Detroit will turn towards him to keep his bat hot and be a spark for their offense in that leadoff spot.

First pitch at 4:10 pm.