Even as Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss has watched his team’s lead atop the National League East shrink, his confidence in the club hasn’t wavered.
The Braves have a chance to continue proving their manager right ahead of the second contest of a three-game series against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.
After dropping seven of its previous nine games, Atlanta has taken back-to-back games over the league’s top two teams in the Milwaukee Brewers and Dodgers. Weiss’ group pulled within three games of Los Angeles for the No. 2 seed in the NL with a dramatic 4-3 win in the series opener on Tuesday.
“I never doubt that room in there. I never have,” Weiss said. “It’s a good room. Guys play to win. The mentality of the group is really good and it has to be. There’s no season like our season. No other sport plays virtually every day for seven months. You’ve got to have guys that are made of the right stuff, and we do.”
AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0, 6.23 ERA) will make his third start of the season for the Braves in just the 19th appearance of his career. The 23-year-old has battled several injuries since being drafted in the seventh round in 2021. Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery last June before landing on the 60-day injured list to begin this season.
Last Wednesday, he yielded four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out three in a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins. The Braves lost 6-4.
Included in a pitching staff ravaged by injury (Atlanta has had 14 pitchers start at least one game this year), the Braves are hoping to rely on Smith-Shawver down the stretch and into the postseason. Starting Wednesday, he’ll be looking to string together more consistent outings.
“I think that’s just been something I’ve been working on,” Smith-Shawver said of trying to work deeper into games. “Just getting deeper in my starts, coming back, getting used to the feels and just how my body is in these innings.”
Making his first start at Truist Park since May 15, 2025, the right-hander will face the Dodgers for the first time in his career.
Los Angeles had its six-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday but remained a game behind Milwaukee for the majors’ best record after the Brewers fell to the New York Mets.
Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.42) will start on Wednesday in hopes of extending a two-month personal unbeaten streak.
Sasaki last suffered a loss on June 26 and has allowed two runs or fewer in six straight starts. The 24-year-old tossed five innings of two-run, seven-hit ball, striking out six and walking one in a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. The Dodgers won 6-4 in 10 innings.
“He’s been great for us,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of Sasaki, who has a 3.18 ERA in three August starts. “Roki is not a finished product, but he’s gotten considerably better from last year. Since the All-Star break, you look at the numbers and he’s been outstanding.”
In his lone career outing against the Braves on May 3, 2025, the right-hander allowed three runs on six hits across five innings while striking out four and walking two in a 10-3 victory.
–Field Level Media
