Braves at Pirates
Bryan Reynolds has hit at every level of baseball from college through the minor leagues, and the rookie left fielder is doing the same in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates entering Thursday’s home series finale against the Atlanta Braves. Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single in the second inning of Wednesday’s 7-4 victory, and the 24-year-old begins Thursday hitting .341 with a .951 OPS through 40 big-league games.
Acquired from San Francisco in the Andrew McCutchen trade in January 2018, Reynolds hit .329 in three seasons at Vanderbilt and .312 across four minor-league seasons, and has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games for Pittsburgh while batting .388 during his hit streak. The Pirates pounded out 14 hits to even the series, three coming from center fielder Starling Marte as he raised his average in his past 14 games to .414. The Braves came into Wednesday having won nine of their past 11 road games and owning a 2.72 ERA in that span, but starter Kevin Gausman gave up seven runs on 12 hits in five innings and the Atlanta offense – which had scored 29 runs in its past three games – finished with just five hits. Other than back-to-back homers from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson in the ninth the main highlight for the Braves was the continued hot start to Austin Riley’s big-league career, the rookie left fielder singling home a run in the second inning to give him 26 RBIs through 19 career games.
TV: 12:35 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Mike Foltynewicz (1-4, 6.10 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Chris Archer (2-5, 5.66)
Foltynewicz had posted back-to-back solid starts before Friday’s outing against Detroit, in which he gave up five runs on seven hits – including three homers – in five innings of an 8-2 defeat. The 27-year-old, who struggled through his first four starts, had allowed two earned runs on eight hits in 12 innings over consecutive outings against Milwaukee and St. Louis. Foltynewicz, who has allowed 13 homers in 38 1/3 innings, is 1-3 in four lifetime starts against Pittsburgh with a 6.88 ERA.
Archer makes his fifth start since coming off the injured list with right thumb irritation on May 15, having pitched to a 7.40 ERA and 1.69 WHIP with five homers allowed in 20 2/3 innings while going 1-3 since returning to the rotation. The 30-year-old went seven innings May 30 against Milwaukee, giving up four runs on five hits (including two homers) with two walks and seven strikeouts in a 9-4 victory. Archer is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in two career starts against Atlanta, both coming last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pittsburgh retired the Braves in order in the first inning Wednesday, just the fourth time in the past 26 games the Pirates have started the game without allowing an opening-inning baserunner.
2. Pirates RF Gregory Polanco has at least one hit in his past nine games against Atlanta, batting .424 in that span.
3. Braves RHP Josh Tomlin pitched two scoreless innings Wednesday, and has allowed one run on two hits across his past six outings.