Through two games, there hasn’t been much drama to this very important series between the Braves and Phillies in Philadelphia.
Atlanta jumped ahead early and never gave up its lead in Friday’s opener, and Philadelphia responded with a wire-to-wire win in Saturday’s second game.
We’ll see if Sunday’s third matchup (1:10 p.m. ET on NBC) of the four-game series is a bit more compelling.
The Braves will turn to Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.25 ERA) for Game 3 of the four-game set. While those aren’t the most impressive
numbers, they certainly aren’t indicative of how impressive the right-hander has been for the Braves since they acquired him at the trade deadline.
In five starts with Atlanta, Mahle is 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA, giving up five earned runs in 30 1/3 innings with 32 strikeouts against five walks. Last time out, he didn’t factor into the decision despite allowing one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings against the Rockies last Sunday, striking out a season-high-tying nine.
Mahle has already faced the Phillies twice this season when he was with the Giants, allowing a combined five earned runs over 10 2/3 innings back in April while taking one loss. For his career, he’s 1-2 with a 3.80 ERA in five starts against Philadelphia.
The Phillies will start Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.93), whose season numbers similarly don’t reflect his recent form. After the right-hander had an ERA of 4.34 or worse each of the first four months of the season, he had a 2.65 ERA across six August starts.
He enters this start having allowed two or fewer runs in five straight outings. Homers, though, have been a consistent problem. He allowed six more in August and has already allowed a career-high-tying 32 bombs in 28 starts this season.
Nola, a career Phillies pitcher, will be facing the Braves for the 40th time in his lengthy career. He’s 17-12 lifetime with a 3.80 ERA, but lost his start against the Braves earlier this season on April 26, getting tagged for six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.
