After splitting the four-game series with the Washington Nationals, the Colorado Rockies head south to the Peach State to take on the Atlanta Braves in a new series.
The last time these two teams met was back in May, when the Braves swept a three-game series at Coors Field. The Braves currently hold a five-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East standings. Once again, the Rockies face a tough road challenge against a good big league team.
Tomoyuki Sugano (12-7, 4.96 ERA)
is looking to rebound after the oddity of his last start at Coors Field. Sugano lasted just three innings against the Cleveland Guardians, having thrown 93 pitches and allowed five runs on nine hits. The Guardians did an excellent job running up his pitch count with an absurd amount of foul balls and the contact they made kept finding holes for base hits. Sugano scuffled in his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers before that, allowing seven runs on seven hits across five innings.
At this point in the season, teams that are elite at making contact have proven troublesome for Sugano, especially those that can waste pitches. Sugano is at his best when he can work quickly and induce weak contact for ground balls. Atlanta is a tough match-up in that regard and he will have to establish the zone early and put batters away quickly.
The Braves will turn to Grant Holmes (8-5, 3.64 ERA) to make his 25th start of the season. With all of the injuries the Braves have dealt with in their rotation, Holmes has proven a reliable arm all season. He can get strikeouts, but has mostly averaged about four per game this season. Meanwhile, the walks can fluctuate but typically average two to three per game. He last faced the Rockies at Coors Field on May 1 and had one of his worst starts this season, allowing six runs on seven hits over five innings.
He comes into this game, however, on the heels of a start where he allowed just one hit over six innings. In fact, he has allowed just six runs over 21.2 innings this month, all of which came in a 3.2 inning performance on August 15 against Arizona. Hopefully, the Rockies can replicate the success from May and actually secure the win
First Pitch: 5:15 pm MDT
TV: Rockies TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
SB Nation site: Battery Power
Lineups
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