Atlanta's still running the NL East, but between Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and half the pitching staff on the shelf, this trip to Pittsburgh looks a lot less lopsided than the standings suggest.
Bush’s Picks
ATLPIT
ATLPIT
OverUnder
Best BetBraves
Atlanta's still the deeper, more talented roster even with the injury list piling up, and that usually wins out over a Pittsburgh team fighting from outside the wild-card line. The Braves have the power bats to punish a shaky Pirates rotation regardless of who starts for them. Back Atlanta here, but don't expect it to be comfortable given how thin their own staff is right now.
Braves
+Leads the NL East at 52-36
+Lineup dropped 14 runs on Mets last week
+Buy-mode resources for deadline upgrades
−Acuña, Kim, Perez all out or shelved
−Strider, Schwellenbach, Murphy all long-term IL
−Profar suspended for the full season
Pirates
+Won 3 of last 5, including two blowouts
+Rookie bats Griffin and Valdez heating up
+Fighting for a wild-card spot at home
−Keller's ERA over 6 in recent stretch
−Cruz and Horwitz both still out injured
−Bullpen just lost Sisk to elbow injury
Atlanta hasn't named a starter for this one yet, which tells you plenty about where their rotation stands right now. Whoever gets the ball is stepping into a spot against Mitch Keller, who's walking into Thursday's matinee with a 6-6 record and a 5.02 ERA that undersells how rough it's actually been lately.
Keller's last time out was a mess: 6 innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs and just 1 strikeout in a loss to Washington. He's allowed a rash of homers over his last several starts, and a Braves lineup that dropped 14 runs on the Mets last week is exactly the kind of group that could make his afternoon miserable at PNC Park.
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ATL Braves
PIT Pirates
Pittsburgh's actually won 3 of its last 5, riding a couple of blowout wins over Washington, so this isn't a team just showing up to get run over. The Pirates are scrapping to stay in the wild-card picture, and that urgency matters against a Braves club that's had to piece together lineups and rotations all month.
Atlanta Braves
Jul 8?@ Pirates—
Jul 7?@ Pirates—
Jul 6?vs Mets—
Pittsburgh Pirates
Jul 8?vs Braves—
Jul 7?vs Braves—
Recent form.
The injury math is lopsided in Atlanta's favor for the season overall but brutal in the day-to-day. Acuña's still not back from his hamstring strain, Ha-Seong Kim just went down with a finger issue, and Martin Perez is now looking at a 15-day IL stint after Sunday's loss to the Mets. Add Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Sean Murphy and a suspended Jurickson Profar to the pile, and Atlanta's margin for error on the mound and in the lineup is thinner than a 52-36 record implies.
Atlanta Braves
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Pittsburgh Pirates
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Pittsburgh's dealing with its own absences at 1B and center field, and its bullpen just lost a reliever to the IL too, so neither side is walking in at full strength for this Thursday, July 9 series game. It sets up as a legitimate coin-flip spot dressed up as a mismatch on paper.
