Royals at Braves
The Atlanta Braves are in a critical stretch of games against their top two challengers in the National League East, but prior to a road trip to Philadelphia and Washington they host a two-game series starting Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. After splitting a four-game series with the Nationals last weekend to maintain a 6 1/2-game lead in the East, the Braves hope their deep offense continues rolling against a Royals pitching staff ranked 24th in the majors in ERA (5.00).
Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. starts the week owning the longest active on-base streak in the majors at 27 games, and in 10 games since the All-Star break the 21-year-old is slashing .318/.388/.545 with three homers, 10 runs scored and eight stolen bases. The Braves entered Monday sixth in the majors in runs scored (534), on-base percentage (.337) and OPS (.794), and are 42-21 since an 18-20 start. The Royals are 7-3 since the All-Star break, but dropped two of three games at Cleveland over the weekend and enter the series 24 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central. Right fielder Jorge Soler belted his 27th homer in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Indians, giving him five homers, 15 RBIs and a .345/.457./655 slash line with a 1.112 OPS in 17 games this month after hitting .216 in June.
TV: 7:20 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS Southeast (Atlanta)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Danny Duffy (4-5, 4.52 ERA) vs. Braves LH Dallas Keuchel (3-3, 3.58)
Duffy snapped a career-long nine-game winless streak in his last start Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, giving up two runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts for his first win since May 19. The 30-year-old had pitched to a 5.33 ERA during his streak with 10 homers allowed in 49 innings, but only gave up more than four earned runs once in that stretch while going 0-4 with five no-decisions. Duffy, who opponents are hitting .316 against the second time through the order after batting just .222 in their first plate appearance, pitched three scoreless innings against Atlanta in 2016 in his lone career game against the Braves.
Keuchel’s two-start winning streak ended Wednesday in Milwaukee after giving up two homers in a 5-4 loss, surrendering four earned runs (five total) on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings. The 31-year-old has allowed three earned runs or fewer in five of his first six starts with Atlanta since signing in early June, including three consecutive outings of two earned runs or fewer to begin July. Keuchel faced Kansas City eight times while pitching for Houston from 2012-18, going 4-1 with a 2.56 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City OF Whit Merrifield is hitting .350 with 28 hits in his past 19 games, and started the week leading the majors in hits (131) and at-bats (424) while being tied for the big-league lead in triples (nine).
2. Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman went 4-for-29 in his first eight games after the All-Star break, then finished 5-for-10 with a double and two RBIs in the final two games of the Washington series.
3. Braves 3B Josh Donaldson has an OPS of 1.221 in 16 games this month with eight homers, 19 RBIs and 14 runs scored.