Folty set to make an impact vs. Font and the Blue Jays

With yesterday’s 6-3 victory, the Braves have already earned at least a split in this two-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays, thus ensuring they will avoid losing their 12th consecutive series. With a victory tonight, they will stretch their record over that span to 9-0-3.

This evening, the Braves will seek their sixth consecutive win, and their 14th victory in the last 16 games. As yesterday saw the Washington Nationals lose to the New York Mets, the Braves’ lead in the NL East is up to 6½ games, and the magic number is down to 19.

In order for the Braves to maintain this division lead, they will lean on Mike Foltynewicz. Despite a somewhat ugly stat line overall, it has been a tale of two seasons for Folty. After being demoted to Gwinnett in June with a 2-5 record, 6.37 ERA | 6.15 FIP, he re-emerged as a new man in August, going 2-0 with a 3.90 ERA | 4.20 FIP. Most importantly, he has cut his home run rate nearly in half. He is still not back to 2018 Folty, but he is making strides.

Even if the numbers don’t completely bear it out, he has appeared much more in control - of his pitches and his emotions - during his second go-round, and has proven he could be a huge asset come playoff time. He faced the Blue Jays last Wednesday, but didn’t factor in the decision. He made it 4⅔ innings and only allowed two runs, but was stung by a bit of shoddy behind-the-plate defense from Tyler Flowers.

The Blue Jays will be going the bullpen game route tonight, turning to Wilmer Font as their opener. Font got the start against the Braves last Tuesday and worked two scoreless innings in Toronto’s 3-1 victory. With an expanded roster and a day off on Wednesday, the Jays can afford to start Font and not have to worry about exhausting their bullpen. Hooray, September baseball!

This is the final game before the Braves’ most important series of the year thus far, a four-game home series starting Thursday against the Nationals.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, September 3, 2019, 7:20 PM EST

Location: SunTrust Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: Fox Sports Southeast

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, Rock 100.5, Braves Radio Network