Yonny Chirinos returns to the mound as Braves look for series win against Giants

The Atlanta Braves will try to make it five-straight wins Saturday when they continue a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants. Atlanta took the opener Friday night behind another stellar pitching performance from Spencer Strider. Yonny Chirinos will get the start for Atlanta Saturday while the Giants will go with Logan Webb.

After a tough start to their last road trip, Atlanta’s pitching staff has been on point of late. The Braves have three-straight shutouts for the first time since 2015. They have shutout their opposition five times in their last eight games. Friday’s win pushed them to a season-best 37 games over .500 at 79-42 and increased their lead in the NL East to a season-high 13.5 games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Chirinos will make his fifth start since joining Atlanta and needs a good outing. Chirinos was tagged for six runs in 4 2/3 innings in his last start against the Mets. In four starts with the Braves, he’s allowed 19 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings. A lot of Chirinos’ issues is tied to how many times he is allowed to face an order. He has a 3.12 ERA the first time facing a lineup. His ERA jumps to 7.02 the second time through the order and is a 25.31 the third time. If Atlanta wants to continue to roll Chirinos out there, then they need to be more mindful of how they use him and put him in more of a position where he can succeed.

Webb comes into Saturday’s start on the short list of contenders for the Cy Young award in the National League. He’s been a true innings-eater for the Giants posting a 3.26 ERA and a 3.54 FIP in 163 innings across 25 starts. He has logged at least seven innings in 14 of those outings. Webb allowed just one run over 8 2/3 innings in his last start against the Rangers. He’s faced the Braves four times in his career where he has allowed just four runs over 27 innings.

Michael Harris posted the fifth four-hit game of his career and finished a homer shy of the cycle in Friday’s win. Since June 7, Harris is hitting .362 with a .973 OPS. Marcell Ozuna extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games with a first inning single Friday. Ozuna is hitting .305/.388/.508 with two homers during the streak. Eddie Rosario had two hits and drove in a run in the win. He is 12-for-37 with two homers and 10 RBI over his last 10 games.

Saturday’s game is scheduled to get underway at 7:20 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports Southeast.

Game Notes

Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 19, 7:20 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park: Atlanta, Georgia

TV: Bally Sports Southeast

Streaming: MLB.tv

Listen: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan