With back-to-back four-run ninth innings, the Braves have pushed the Astros out of contention in the last two games. Marcell Ozuna started the fireworks on both nights by extending his hitting streak to 15 games in a row going into Wednesday’s play.
Despite just hitting one home run so far in this series, Atlanta has won both of its games by a score of 12-3. Today, they want to complete the sweep in Houston to cap off an incredible first visit to H-Town since Blooper’s beloved Juice Box Park, where they won the 2021 World Series.
likely starters in the pen
The Braves’ starting pitcher on Wednesday afternoon is Max Fried (1-0, 8.74 ERA). Max just tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball against the Marlins, which was his best outing of the year. Fried did a much better job of following the order in his previous outing, giving up just one walk in his six plus innings pitched. Fried’s spectacular performance in game six of the 2021 World Series will also mark his first start at Minute Maid Park.
J.P. France (0-2, 8.22 ERA) will be facing the Astros as they attempt to win the game. With an 8.22 ERA through three games, the 29-year-old right-hander has had a rough start to his career.
But it looks like he’s been a touch out of luck based on his 4.07 FIP.
France changes things up against LHB by throwing a lot more curveballs and changeups in addition to his fastball and cutter, which he typically uses to attack right-handed batters. The Braves can only hope that Hunter Brown’s fastball velocity won’t approach what they witnessed from him yesterday, as it would allow their bats to crush some baseballs this afternoon.
