Snitker shuffles lineup, Ozzie returns to lead-off spot for Game 1 of Braves vs. Padres

Much of the thunder provided by Charlie Culberson’s bat in 2018 has been off the bench, but tonight he will hopefully provide some lightning in left field. After his second walk-off home run in a week, he will get the nod in left field and bat 7th. With any luck, there will be no need for late-game heroics, and the following lineup will hopefully run up the score up early.

With Ender Inciarte struggling as of late, Ozzie Albies will return to the lead-off spot and Johan Camargo will bat 2nd in front of Freddie Freeman. Inciarte moves down to 6th

The Braves will face big lefty Clayton Richard, who brings a 3-6 record and 4.74 ERA to the table. He leads the league in ground ball rate (56.5%), so the Braves will need to hit it high and hard to keep from playing to his strengths. Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis are a combined 7-for-17 with two doubles against Richard, which is an encouraging sign in the middle of the lineup.

Meanwhile, this is the order in which the Padres will do business:

Noted Teheran killer Freddy Galvis (hitting .333 against him over 37 plate appearances), whom was acquired from the Phillies in the offseason, hits 6th. Two of Wil Myers’ three career hits against Teheran are home runs. With any luck, the cavernous dimensions of PetCo will keep the ball in the yard and let Julio keep the scoreboard clean.

It’ll be a late one for the East Coasters, as first pitch is not scheduled until 10:10pm EST.