Braves at Twins
Freddie Freeman doesn't get to play often in Minnesota, but the Atlanta Braves first baseman is enjoying his time there entering Wednesday’s finale of a three-game interleague series against the Twins. Freeman has homered in the first two games of the series, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs Tuesday as the National League East-leading Braves evened the series with a 12-7 victory, and he enters Wednesday 9-for-17 with three homers and 10 RBIs in four career games at Target Field.
Ronald Acuna Jr. homered on the game’s first pitch for the fourth time this season Tuesday, giving him 14 leadoff homers since July 20 last season, and the 21-year-old outfielder finished 3-for-5 with four runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base, moving within two homers and four steals of a 30-30 season. The Twins four-game winning streak ended with just their third loss in the past 12 games. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz finished 4-for-5 with two homers, two runs scored and four RBIs to give him a major-league best 16 homers since the All-Star break. Mitch Garver and Eddie Rosario also homered to give Minnesota 223 longballs on the season, moving within two of the franchise record of 225 set in 1963 and just 44 off the major-league record of 267 set by the Yankees last season.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS North (Minneapolis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Max Fried (12-4, 4.07 ERA) vs. Twins LH Martin Perez (8-4, 4.58)
Fried fired his first career complete game (albeit rain-shortened) in his last start Thursday against Cincinnati, allowing one run on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts over six innings for his third consecutive victory. The 25-year-old has given up three earned runs or fewer five times in his past seven starts, pitching to a 3.99 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings while going 5-1 in that span. Fried has limited opponents to a .233 average across his past three starts, but on the season right-handed batters are hitting .290 with an .802 OPS.
Perez has cooled considerably since going 7-1 with a 2.95 ERA through his first 11 appearances, pitching to a 6.21 ERA with 65 hits allowed (including 10 homers) in 58 innings across his past 11 starts. The 28-year-old has surrendered four earned runs or more seven times in that span, including Friday against Kansas City when he gave up five runs on seven hits (including three homers) over five innings of a no-decision. Perez, who makes his first career appearance against Atlanta, is 4-2 with a 4.35 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 12 home appearances (11 starts) in 2019.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cruz is hitting .284 with 48 homers and 132 RBIs in 172 career interleague games.
2. Atlanta CF Ender Inciarte went 2-for-5 Tuesday and in his past 10 starts is hitting .333 with three doubles, two homers and eight RBIs.
3. Rosario is hitting 11-for-29 with two homers and seven RBIs during his current seven-game hitting streak.