The Atlanta Braves should get ready for one of the toughest four game series in recent history, as they are playing against the San Francisco Giants at home on August 12th. Both teams are right in the middle of a wildcard playoff game so this series is crucial for either team.
Series Detail;
The Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants series will take place August 12-15, 2024 Oracle Park — San Francisco.
The following is the schedule with their local times:
1. Monday, August 12, 2024
Time: 9:45 PM ET
Pitching Matchup: Blake Snell (Giants) vs. Chris Sale (Braves)
2. Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Time: 9:45 PM ET
Pitching Matchup: Kyle Harrison (Giants) vs. Charlie Morton (Braves)
3. Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Time: 9:45 PM ET
Pitching Matchup: Robbie Ray (Giants) vs. Spencer Schwellenbach (Braves)
4. Thursday, August 15, 2024
Time: 3:45 PM ET
Pitching Matchup: Logan Webb (Giants) vs. Max Fried (Braves)
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
Despite a spate of injuries, from Ronald Acuña Jr. to Spencer Strider’s abdominal strains which will keep each sidelined at least one month — the Braves aim to hang on in contention with continued organizational diaphanously inefficiency providing its fruits.
However, the Braves have been able to stay afloat in spite of this and are playing some low-quality baseball relative to preseason expectations.
The Giants, meanwhile, have been significantly more reliable and are also in the playoff hunt; they need to win every game of this series.
The slate is set to deliver key pitching matchups, including Blake Snell vs. Chris Sale (Monday) and Logan Webb vs. Max Fried on Thursday. The teams are similar in their records, and with less than 50 games left on the season then a win from one of them will earn valuable ground for both programs to make or break its playoff chances.
The Giants going into a run-producing machine like the Braves? — Well, that was more than a month ago when they last played each other but it felt as though this franchise was still walking right in front of an approaching buzzsaw. Except that it wasn’t. The G-Men took 2 out of 3 from the crumbling Braves in Georgia to be poised for what looked like a strong final run at the All-Star Break.
That circle wasn’t completed until after the break, yet here Colorado stands just 1.5 games back of that third Wild Card — which was its main offseason objective — and is now looking up… to Atlanta?
A combination of injuries and a tough division have relegated Atlanta, which everybody picked before the season to win it easily, into dogfight mode as they cling to one of two final Wild Card spots. They are only a half game up on the Mets for second place in the NL East (the Phillies lead by several games), and that last Wild Card spot.
And yet Atlanta had been in the same sort of spot back at the start of July, and there I engaged in my usual concern-trolling or expectation-setting:
So why does this matter to the Giants? While this is true and Atlanta has been just 27-27 since finishing April at.500, they have battled the other problem San Francisco had (6-10 in June), playing better than average on their home turf too.
The Wild Card is designed to take the hottest teams in August and September, but what about those who have cruised their way into a Wild card? But is the heat of belief and flames incinerating a suddenly failing division foe enough for them to end up there instead? The 49ers could be a plane on the runway readying for takeoff.
The Braves are 15-20 since July 1, and they’re still just two games over.500 (42-40) in their last 82 games after that scorching start.
They never really got rolling, and instead have been stuck in the muck since about a month into it.
With 49 games from Ronald Acuna Jr., 67 from Michael Harris II, a switch to the bullpen for Spencer Strider and down years by Matt Olson (12 HR/. 737 OPS) and Orlando Arcia (. 644); and 2B) Sean Murphy (1-0, 9).
They’ve fallen so much out of favor that they traded for Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson.
They’re 8-14 in the second half and one of those wins was their last game against Detroit but like the Giants, they’ve been fine on road at HOME (29-20 +41 run diff) than either team have been AT home — Cards.508-win percentage vs. visiting teams compared to just a.552 mark there as hosts; San Francisco has won 32 times while losing 26 AT home (.533 for all your math geeks out there).
However, they did just drop 2 of 3 in Colorado and have lost seven of eight.
The Giants are 14-9 in the second half, 35-24 at home with a +20-run differential, and they just went through that impossibly good turn of luck where nobody could gain on them because all they were doing was playing six series against teams under.500. 500 team.
It’s not ideal (they could have won yesterday for example) but it is enough of a positive outcome that I declare: Mission accomplished.
Those are words I also wrote last month and as quoted above written in regarding why the Wild Card is setup so that
“The hottest teams win it that final month or 2”
Except it’s or so in the season right now. The key difference is that Atlanta isn’t the powerhouse they’ve been in years past.
Still a dangerous team, too (especially from those starters), but this is the best chance they are going to have all month to really separate themselves as wild-card contenders or just another club hoping for that late-June magic.