Atlanta’s Bryce Elder and Chicago’s Shane Smith will try to restore order on Tuesday night when they take the mound in the second contest of the three-game series between the Braves and visiting White Sox.
The two right-handers will face opponents coming off impressive offensive performances.
Chicago put up season highs in runs and hits (19) in a 13-9 victory Monday over Atlanta in the series opener. The Braves recorded 15 hits and had the tying run at the plate in the eighth inning but could not overcome a 10-1 deficit.
The victory ended Chicago’s seven-game road losing streak and stopped their four-game skid overall.
The loss snapped Atlanta’s season-best five-game winning streak.
Elder (5-9, 5.89 ERA) and Smith (3-7, 4.01) could help overworked bullpens with extended starts on Tuesday.
Smith will make his 22nd start of the season. He has been impressive over the last three appearances, posting a 2.51 ERA while striking out 17 in 14 1/3 innings while limiting his opponents to a .163 batting average. Smith has thrown 101 innings this season.
“I want to finish this year strong and throw as many innings as I can, just build up as much workload,” he said. “To get over 100 innings feels good.”
In his last outing on Wednesday against Detroit, Smith received a no-decision after allowing two hits with three walks and five strikeouts over five scoreless innings. Chicago lost 1-0.
Elder will make his 21st start on Tuesday. He is coming off a quality start against the New York Mets on Thursday, when he ended a three-game losing streak. Elder pitched seven innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks and six strikeouts in a 4-3 victory.
Both Elder and Smith will face Tuesday’s opposing team for the first time in their careers.
Atlanta’s hottest hitters have been Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar.
Harris went 4-for-4 on Monday to extend his National League-best hitting streak to 11 games. He is batting .500 (23-for-46) since Aug. 8, raising his batting average to .260.
Profar went 3-for-5 in the series opener with two homers and five RBIs. He has reached base in 17 consecutive games.
Harris was lifted for pinch runner Eli White in the eighth inning. The Braves wound up batting around and had the bases loaded when Harris’ spot came back up in the inning. White struck out to end the late comeback attempt.
“I had no idea we were going to bat around and he’d get back up there,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “I was just trying to give the kid a break, and it blows up. We’re down eight runs and I’m just trying to give him a break. Welcome to my world this year.”
On Tuesday, Chicago might be without rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery, who left Monday’s game with left side soreness after his fourth plate appearance. Montgomery said he “felt a little bit of a stretch” after fouling off a pitch in the sixth inning.
Fellow rookie Kyle Teel had his second career four-hit game for the White Sox on Monday and raised his batting average to .270. He was among six Chicago players with multiple hits on Monday. The only starter without a hit was Montgomery.
–Field Level Media
