Spencer Strider, Braves set to begin homestand against Twins

The Atlanta Braves return to Truist Park Monday where they will begin a six-game home stand with a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. The Braves just completed a 4-1 road trip with a pair of series wins against the Phillies and the Reds. Atlanta is 50-27 and enters play Monday with a six-game lead in the NL East standings. The Twins come into the series with a 40-39 record and have a two-game lead in the AL Central. Minnesota won two of three in Detroit to begin a nine-game road trip.

Monday’s game will feature a good pitching matchup between Atlanta’s Spencer Strider and Minnesota’s Sonny Gray. Strider successfully bounced back from a pair of rough outings with a good start in Philadelphia where he allowed one run and struck out nine over six innings. This will be his first career start against the Twins.

Gray has put together another solid season. He allowed six hits and three runs over five innings in his last start against Boston. He has allowed two home runs all season so it will be interesting to see how he handles Atlanta’s homer happy lineup. This will be the first time Gray has faced Atlanta since the 2020 season.

The Braves homered 10 times in the series in Cincinnati and lead the majors with 139 for the season. Matt Olson had four homers in the series and is tied with Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead with 25. Atlanta got Sean Murphy back in the lineup for the first time in a week after he tweaked his hamstring last Sunday against the Rockies. Travis d’Arnaud picked up the slack by going 6-for-16 with two homers over four games on the road trip.

Atlanta had to lean heavily on its bullpen over the weekend against the Reds and opted to add a fresh arm to the bullpen Monday by recalling Dereck Rodriguez. AJ Smith-Shawver was optioned to Gwinnett in the corresponding move opening the door for Michael Soroka to start either Tuesday or Wednesday’s game.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports South.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, June 26, 7:20 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: Bally Sports South, MLB Network

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan