Braves at Cardinals
Dansby Swanson played most of last season with an injured left wrist that kept him off the playoff roster and led to offseason surgery, but the Atlanta Braves shortstop is healthy and producing entering Saturday’s contest at the St. Louis Cardinals. Swanson extended his hitting streak to seven games with the second multi-homer game of his career in Friday’s 5-2 victory, giving him 10 homers and 35 RBIs in 52 games as the Braves won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Expectations always have been sky-high for Swanson - an Atlanta native who was the top pick in the 2015 draft by Arizona - and he is well on his way to meeting those hopes, given the 25-year-old is hitting .262 this season (.333 with four homers during his hitting streak) after batting .238 with 14 homers and 59 RBIs in 136 games in 2018. While the Braves continue chasing Philadelphia at the top of the National League East, St. Louis has dropped 15 of its 20 games and manager Mike Shildt shook up his lineup for Friday’s opener, moving right fielder Dexter Fowler to the leadoff spot and displacing third baseman Matt Carpenter from first to fifth in the lineup. Carpenter finished 2-for-4 with a ninth-inning solo homer, but he brings a .210 average into Saturday. Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader finished 2-for-4 with a triple and is 10-for-20 with two doubles, a triple and a homer in his past six games.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, Fox
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Mike Soroka (5-1, 1.01 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (3-3, 4.40)
Soroka continues to dazzle while establishing himself as a candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, giving up one run on two hits with no walks over eight innings Monday at San Francisco - taking a perfect game into the sixth inning. The 21-year-old has not allowed more than one earned run in any of his seven starts, and a homer surrendered against the Giants is only the second career longball against him in 70 1/3 career innings. Soroka, who has limited opponents to a .159 batting average, gave up three hits in seven shutout innings to defeat the Cardinals on May 15.
Hudson snapped a three-start winless streak and earned his first triumph of the month on May 18 at Texas, giving up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in six innings of an 8-2 victory. The 24-year-old has allowed three earned runs or fewer in his past six starts, although he did surrender eight runs on seven hits in an 11-1 loss to Philadelphia on May 7. Opponents are hitting .299 with an .841 OPS and nine homers against Hudson, who gave up one run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief against Atlanta in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cardinals announced before Friday’s game that RHP Michael Wacha (3-2, 5.59 ERA, 1.69 WHIP in nine starts) is moving to the bullpen.
2. Atlanta placed OF Matt Joyce on the bereavement list before Friday’s game and recalled RHP Kyle Wright from Triple-A Gwinnett.
3. Braves OF Ronald Acuna Jr. snapped an 0-for-13 skid with an eighth-inning single Friday.