Diamondbacks at Braves Game Preview June 18th

The Diamondbacks visit Atlanta for a three game series against the Braves starting today at 4:20 P.M. MST. The games will no longer be broadcast on Bally Sports. MLB will be producing the broadcast, which is available on Cox Cable and DIRECTV, and also streaming on MLB. For full details on channels and streaming options see this article.

The Braves have the best record in MLB at 61-31, .663 W% and hold a 10-game lead over the Marlins in the NL East. The Diamondbacks are 52-42, .553 W%, and currently occupy third place in the NL West, 2.0 games back of the Dodgers, and the third Wild Card spot in the NL.

The Braves took two of three games when the two teams met at Chase Field June 2-4th. The Braves are 6-4 in their last ten games and 15-5 in their last 20. They just dropped two of three at home to the White Sox however so they might be cooling off just a bit.

The D-backs will need to make a 180-degree turn from their recent performance. They were swept three straight by the Toronto Blue Jays coming out of the All-Star break to fall out of first place. It was a continuation of a slump dating back to June 28th. They are 4-10 since that date, hitting just .210 and scoring 2.9 runs per game in that stretch. The pitching hasn't been terrible for the most part, as they've posted a 4.39 ERA and allowed 4.6 runs per game, which is actually the same as they had been producing on the mound prior to June 28th. Most of the team's slump is on the position players, but there have also been several high leverage bullpen meltdowns.

Pitching Matchup

Zach Davies, 1-5, 6.37 ERA will try to continue his turn around to a disastrous season. Over his last two outings he's thrown 11 innings and given up seven earned runs, for a 5.73 ERA, so it really hasn't been much of a recovery outside of his seven inning scoreless outing against Tampa Bay Rays on June 28th.

Bryce Elder, 7-2, 2.97 ERA is coming off his worst start of the year giving up seven runs in 3.1 innings to the Rays on July 9th. Prior to that he was a lynchpin in a Braves rotation that has been hit with injuries. Elder's FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is 4.13, so his peripherals don't quite back up his ERA.

Lineups

The Braves are led by MVP frontrunner Ronald Acuna Jr, who is batting .333 with 23 homers and 49 stolen bases. While keeping him in check is a good starting point if you want to beat this team, the entire lineup is stacked with hitters that pound the ball as their 173 homers are the most in MLB. All-Star catcher Sean Murphy has turned out to be even better than the Braves could have hoped for, blasting 17 homers while hitting .295 and playing top level defense behind the plate.

Dominic Canzone gets just his second start of the year and will be the DH today. The Reno slugger only has seven plate appearances since being called up on July 8th. He's still looking for his first major league hit.

Bullpens

The Diamondbacks will be without Andrew Chafin for the series as he was placed on the Paternity Leave list. Luis Frias has been called up from Triple-A Reno.

Raisel Iglesias is the Braves closer these days and has 16 saves with two blown saves. His record is 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 27.1 IP