Braves Notes - September 21
The Braves and Marlins open a four-game set tonight with the seventh of 10 meetings between the clubs this season...The Marlins won two-of-three here in Atlanta, September 7-9, while the Braves won two-of-three in Miami, August 14-16.
The Braves have gone 23-8 (.742) against Miami here in Atlanta since Truist Park opened in 2017... The Marlins won their first ever series here during that three-game set earlier this month...Prior to that, the Braves had never dropped consecutive games to Miami at Truist Park. • The Braves went 15-4 against Miami last year to set the franchise record for most wins over Miami in a single season...The club bested the singleseason franchise record by one game...Atlanta went 14-5 (.737) against Miami in 2018, matching the mark first set in 2004 and repeated in 2012. • The winner of this series will take the season set... The Braves have won the season series over Miami every year since 2015
RHP Huascar Ynoa has never faced Miami...The 6-foot-3, 235-pound native of Puerto Plata, DR, is set to make his fifth start, and he has no decisions and a 8.38 ERA (9 ER/9.2 IP) as a starter...He did go 4.0 shutout innings in his last start, September 15 at Baltimore.
LHP Trevor Rogers has never faced Atlanta...The 6-foot-5, 217-pound native of Carlsbad, CA, is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (5 ER/15.0 IP) in three road turns this season.
POSTSEASON OUTLOOK: The Braves are set to play four games with the second-place Marlins starting tonight, and can clinch a third-consecutive NL East title as early as tomorrow night...They would need to win the first two games of this series, and have Philadelphia lose twice to Washington...The Phillies, who have an elimination number of four, are scheduled to open a four-game set tonight with the Nationals that includes a doubleheader tomorrow. • The Braves have a three-game lead with seven games remaining...If they take two games in this series, they will eliminate the Marlins from the division chase, by way of the second tie-breaker, which is intradivison record this season...The Braves have a one-game lead in that race (Atlanta: 21-15 vs. the NL East; Miami: 20-16)...The first tie break is head-to-head record, which the teams would split at five apiece if the Braves win twice. • However, if the Braves only win once, Atlanta would enter the weekend a game ahead, but with Miami holding the first tie-break...The Braves magic number would at that point be three, after shaving two off the number in this series. • The Phillies could remain alive even if the Marlins are knocked out, after splitting the season series with Atlanta...They also are a game back in the intradivison chase.