The Atlanta Braves will turn to right-hander Grant Holmes on Sunday afternoon when they go for a three-game sweep of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
Atlanta followed an intense 6-5 victory in 11 innings over Philadelphia on Friday with a 12-2 rout on Saturday. The Braves have won nine of the 12 meetings between the teams this season.
The Braves (88-61) hold a six-game lead over the second-place Phillies (82-67) in the National League East. Atlanta’s magic number to clinch the division is seven games. Philadelphia currently holds the No. 2 wild-card spot in the league.
While the Phillies would like to catch the Braves and win their third straight NL East title, Philadelphia’s primary concern simply is to qualify for the postseason.
“It’s totally on their minds,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “They know where we’re at. They’ve been in playoff situations long enough to know that you’d like to win the division or even give yourself a first-round bye. They’ve been around this enough where it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to get ourselves in the playoffs and win a round and move on.
“The teams that win it all have to take on everybody. You’d like to set yourself up, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter.”
Holmes (9-5, 3.46 ERA) will oppose Philadelphia rookie Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.71) in a matchup of right-handers.
Holmes quietly has put together a strong season. He is coming off a six-inning scoreless stint against Philadelphia on Monday — a game the Braves lost 1-0 — and has thrown six scoreless innings six times this season.
“When he has a hiccup, it’s usually just one inning where he struggles,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “There’s been times when he gets through that inning, he rights the ship again.”
Holmes has made seven career appearances (four starts) against the Phillies, going 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA against Philadelphia in three starts this season.
Painter had a 7.06 ERA through 12 starts to open the season before being sent to Triple-A, where he worked on a changeup and essentially ditched the splitter. He has looked like a different pitcher since he was recalled at the end of July. In eight starts since then, Painter is 2-1 with a 3.77 ERA.
“He’s thrown the ball well since he came back, so that’s obviously a positive for us,” Mattingly said.
Painter’s last start, against Houston on Tuesday, was a hiccup for the right-hander, as he was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in five innings of a 6-5 loss.
Painter has faced the Braves twice this season, both before his time in the minors, and went 0-2 after allowing eight runs in 9 2/3 innings.
Philadelphia nemesis Ronald Acuna Jr. came to life on Saturday to go 3-for-3 with a home run. He has four three-hit games in 15 contests since Aug. 28, his only three-hit games of the season. He is batting .404 (23-for-57) with seven multi-hit games during that span.
–Field Level Media
