Ronald Acuña Jr. chasing history as Braves wrap up series with Phillies

The Atlanta Braves will try to secure another series win Wednesday afternoon when they wrap up a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park. Bryce Elder will get the start for the Braves while the Phillies will go with veteran righty Aaron Nola.

Atlanta dropped their fourth straight game in Monday’s opener, but came roaring back Tuesday behind a good outing from Spencer Strider and a pair of homers by Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña now has 39 homers for the season and eclipsed the 100 RBI mark for the second time in his career. Acuña needs just one more home run to become the fifth player to have 40 homers and 40 stolen bases and the first member of the 40/60 club. Acuña also picked up his majors leading 67th stolen base in Tuesday’s win. He needs just five more to tie Otis Nixon’s modern day franchise record of 72.

Elder will make his 30th start of the season in Wednesday’s game. He began the season at Gwinnett, but has been a fixture in the rotation ever since and has logged plenty of important innings while the Braves dealt with injuries to Max Fried and Kyle Wright. Elder allowed four runs in five innings in his last start against the Marlins. He’s allowed seven runs through 18 innings (3 starts) in September.

It has been a Jekyll or Hyde season for Nola who will be a free agent at season’s end. He has again been a workhorse with 181 innings pitched, but has struggled a bit with a 4.62 ERA and a 4.19 FIP. After finishing August on a high note, Nola has struggled in September and has failed to make it out of the fifth inning in three-straight starts. He allowed just two earned runs in his last outing against the Cardinals, but was lifted after 4 2/3 innings and 97 pitches and recorded a season-low one strikeout.

Wednesday’s game has an early start time of 12:20 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports South.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, September 20, 12:20 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: Bally Sports South

Streaming: MLB TV

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan