Braves roll with regulars for Game 1 against Marlins

While we all furiously refresh our Twitter accounts for any fresh trade news, it’s easy to forget there is a Braves game to be played tonight. For the third time this season, Julio Teheran will face Wei-Yin Chen.

The Braves lineup sticks closely to its recent format, with Ronald Acuña staying at his newfound leadoff home. The rest of the Braves lineup rolls out as follows:

Despite being mostly shut down against Chen twice earlier this year, fortune should favor the Braves in this matchup. Chen’s road ERA is a comical 10.47, with a WHIP of 2.02. He has allowed 9 HR in 32 ⅔ road innings. On the other side, as a whole the Braves have slashed .266/.333/.445/.778 against left handed pitching in 2018. All signs point to a strong offensive showing, but then again, so did last Tuesday when Chen only allowed the Braves 3 runs over 6 innings.

Freddie Freeman has teed off against Chen during his career, with a robust .467/.500/.600/1.100 line. Johan Camargo homered against Chen during last week’s matchup. Nick Markakis has hit surprisingly lightly over the course of his career against Chen (2-for-13), so he might be due.

The Marlins, who have destroyed Julio Teheran during 2018, will use the following nine to try for an encore:

As noted above, fortune should favor the Braves here based on Chen’s struggles and extreme road splits, but you can never be too sure which Julio Teheran is going to toe the mound. Teheran’s ERA against the Marlins in 2018 is 12.54, as he has surrendered 13 runs over 9 ⅓ innings. Of the Marlins’ starting lineup, 10 of their 38 career hits against Teheran have gone for extra bases, including 5 HR. Somehow, Chen has a .750 OPS against him.

This matchup has all the making of a game where the final score could be closer to a Falcons-Dolphins outcome. If the final score is 21-13, how surprised would you really be?

First pitch is scheduled for 7:35pm EST.